Gor Mahia head coach Leonard Neiva wasn’t pleased with the match officials after they were beaten 1-0 by El Merriekh Bentiu in the first leg 1st preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
Play had to be stopped in the earlier stages of the second half after the tactician had an altercation with his Merriekh counterpart in the dugout and the Brazilian didn’t stop there as he called out his opponents for deploying anti-football tactics.
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“The first half was a good game for both teams. We were better than them in the first as we had three of four clear opportunities,” Neiva said in his post-match interview. “The second half wasn’t good for African football. The opponents wasted time after they scored and that kind of football isn’t good for anyone. We needed like seven minutes in extra time (due to time-wasting by the opponents) but we only got four minutes which was a joke.”
While Neiva congratulated his opponents, he termed the football they displayed as old-fashioned and promised to give his all in ensuring that his team qualifies for the next round of qualifiers where they are to meet.
“Congratulations to the hosts but the second leg is in Nairobi I’m very tired of this old-fashioned football. We can win draw or lose but win on the ground. I’m not giving an excuse (but football has to change),” he added.
In other matches played by CECAFA teams on Sunday, Azam FC (Tanzania) beat APR FC 1-0 at the Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam, JKU SC (Zanzibar) suffered a 6-0 defeat to Pyramids FC in Cairo, Egypt, while Al- Hilal (Sudan) picked a hard fought 2-1 against Al Ahly Benghazi in Libya.
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