Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees has labelled Cameroon as a “different calibre” ahead of their matchday two fixture of the AFCON qualifiers at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Kampala, Uganda on Tuesday, September 10.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw against Kenya, the 57-year-old German tactician admitted playing against the Indomitable Lions will need a different approach than how they played against Harambee Stars.
“We performed good against Kenya, good but not great from the defensive point of view, so first of all we need to recover, the players need two days to get their legs fresh and then third day you cannot train something but now we have one day before the next game and we cannot do much,” said Nees as quoted by SportsBoom.com.
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“We need to analyse our game against Kenya, of course they need to apply intelligence, experience to rectify mistakes and improve on key areas but for sure we will have to improve against Cameroon a few things, Cameroon is a different calibre if they come with their best team, there is no doubt about that.”
Giving his thoughts on the Kenya game, Nees said: “It was our first game, and we wanted to win but we were caught in between a win and a draw, but I am happy from the defensive point of view we didn’t concede a goal.
“At the beginning we looked a little bit crampy, not so light I don’t know if it was caused by a little bit excitement, you know playing your first AFCON group game, so at the beginning, the legs were a little bit heavy but I think the longer the game progressed, we grew in confidence but we have a lot of space for improvement, no doubt about it.”
Nees added: “Kenya is a difficult opponent to play against, we anticipated exactly how they played, they want to drag you out, make a mistake in your pressing then they come and over play you then they are very strong in running and then they beat you and again they hardly concede a goal and if they score against you, it is going to be very difficult against them.
“That is how they (Kenya) collected a point against Ivory Coast (in the World Cup qualifiers), that is how they have played in the last six matches, I think we can be satisfied with the draw, if I am honest maybe we could have deserved a win a little more, but there are two times our heavy legs saved us from defeat.
“We need to analyse our game against Kenya, of course they need to apply intelligence, experience to rectify mistakes and improve on key areas but for sure we will have to improve against Cameroon a few things, Cameroon is a different calibre if they come with their best team, there is no doubt about that.”
As it stands, the Indomitable Lions are leading Group J with three points, Kenya are second with one, Zimbabwe third with one while Namibia is fourth without a point.