Pleased with the performance says Ricki

Nov 12, 2015 - 09:03:19 |
Maldives national team coach, Ricki Herbert. (Photo: Ibrahim Faid)

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WCQ: Maldives 0-1 Hong Kong
WCQ: Maldives 0-1 Hong Kong

Male’, MALDIVES – Maldives national team coach Ricki Herbert has said that he is very pleased with the performance of the players during today’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Hong Kong even though the home side lost the match by 1-0.

“It’s a game that we totally dominated and I am very pleased with the performance of the players. The players worked hard and the disapointing thing is the result.” Ricki Herbert, who guided New Zealand in 2010 FIFA World Cup said in the press conference after the game.

“We lost the match with a penalty and the reality is that Hong Kong is much better than us and that proves from the point table and their recent friendly games. They have naturalized players in their team but our players did a fantastic job today.”

Ricki also added that the players are experiencing a new thing for them and it might cause some problem for them.

“The players are doing something different for them and it takes time for them. During this time we will get bad results and obviously people will criticize. But in the future things will be totally different.”

When asked about the double substitutions he made with the most experienced two players he replied that the team must know a way to play without them.

“The team has to know how to play without these experienced players and that’s the reason why I cahnged them. Those two players, Baka and Ashfaq are very good and helpful players so there is nothing more to say. I want to build a good team for the SAFF Championship and I want to give chances to the young players. They must play international matches and then only they can be good players.”

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Ali on Nov 12
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If anyone who has seen the past games our team played and today's game, i don't think anyone can critcize about even about the result, performance or gameplan. Today in our home ground we palyed with 12th player. If our team had home support the result would have being on our side.
Red on Nov 12
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The only player I don't want to see in today's game is Ashfag ... In future games, IF he play like this, he shouldn't wear Captain arm band
Imma on Nov 12
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I was very pleased with the first half performance, especially the high intensity pressing that put Hong Kong under pressure and enabled us to create some very good chances. On another day we would've buried them and it would've been one of those memorable home wins. As expected, the fitness levels of the players withered away in the second half, and it took an injection of energy by substitutes Fasir and Ansar for us to create chances towards the end. Not a bad performance, and as Herbert said, we should expect a few disappointing results in our transitional stage.
Amjad on Nov 15
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As well know Maldives team is a 70 minutes team, so I expected the coach to bring those changes between 60-70 minute, I believe that would have made a difference in the score. My personal opinion about bringing in a new player to NT later than 80th minute, means you are putting too much pressure on that kid. How can he prove anything within 10 minutes of a game. I think the heading chance that anko got would have been a score if he were playing without pressure!!!
Boyko on Nov 12
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Soft goal to give away – a big defensive mistake. Keeper had to rush forward and clear what should have been easily dealt by the defenders. As for the keeper, instead of trying to save it by hand, had he gone for sliding tackle clearance he could have cleared it without touching or blocking opposing player which ultimately lead to the penalty. Overall good play though, however there were still too many back passes while looking for an eqalizer. As for Ashfaq, is he in a temporary rut or this the bigenning of a permanent decline? There was not a hint of the explosiveness that had been his hallmark. The cutting edge was simply not there. Whether this was lack of motivation or application he was caught out on  few occasion for the lack of speed of thought. Earlier he would have gone through an eye of needle, now appears to be stalked by fears. Except for his scuffed effort in the first half he did not contribute much to the game whereas Rasheed, Easa and Nashid put it performance worthy of accolades. Contrary what I had expected though Hong Kong was not that good today, had our players pressed more and tried to create more chances this was a game we could have drawn if not won. Anyway for a change it was nice to see many young players. Unfazed by the opposition or occasion, they look more composed on the ball than the senior pros. What was with Bakaa’s first touch,  ball bounces 3 or 4 feet away with his first touch every time. I, however think, for SAFF this coach can prepare a decent team. We just need to sort out the defensive confusion we get into under pressure. 
Fan on Nov 13
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It is too early to say this was a huge improvement on previous performances. True, they played with certain freedom and panache not often seen in this ground. They enjoyed better possession, a good passing game for most part but remember it was in their own half with no pressing from Hong Kong players. But in the final third they floundered, cannot make decisive passes. Ashfaq did not get a single telling pass to get end of it dispite Hong Kong maintained a high line. Too often there were aimless crosses, which was like doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different outcome. We should be under no illusion this was no pressure game, out of the qualification race, they had all the freedom in the world to play their natural game. So better not read too much into it.
footballmad on Nov 13
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This is the first time we have played an attacking game fairly well against a stronger team. Some nice moves by Naatey, I have to say. Despite the criticisms, Dhagey was involved in some good attacking moves unlike in the Qatar match. Crtiticsms are still expeced because expectations are still higher for him than for any other player. The main difference is the during the whole match we played as a team and we showed that we don't need to be so desperate as to depend on Dhagey or Imma only. Unlucky the referee didn't see the handling of the ball by the HK goal keeper outside the area when Dhagey nearly had the ball and a brilliant shot by Asako, again unlucky. The whole defence played extremely well too, apart from in the HK attack just before the penalty. I thought the defence should have dealt with the ball before Imran foulder the HK player. There are good signs and if we can continue to get stronger and stronger as a a whole team the negative pressure on key players like Dhagey and Bakaa will subside and they will regain their real form while playing for the national side.
nihattey on Nov 13
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three best national team performance i have seen for quite a while. riki you are doing a great job. wish u all the best 👏👏👍
DhiFootball on Nov 13
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Agree with the Coach. Liked the way we played and this was a game we could have won. But guess today luck was not on our side plus unfortunately we didnt see the usual support from the home crowd (which would have pushed the team bit more). Felt that the relatively few supporters from Hongkong did a better job cheering their team. Although less than ours, Hongkong did create some very open chances that we should learn to stop over the coming games. It is hard for someone to shoot the ball over the goal post while inside the goal area but that was almost the second goal against us. On the positive side, i liked the way Easa played today and i hope he works hard on his fitness and speed for the coming games. Naatey played with lot of confidence and really liked it. We should also work on shooting from long range as our play was broken several times while trying to make the final through pass. Didn't see any players of Hongkong fall on the ground because of the wet surface but saw couple of our players loose their footing on some vital moments. This is something that needs improvement as well. We should learn to assess the condition of the pitch and use compatible footwear. Hope that we will be able to play at least couple of friendlies before the SAFF championship, to be held in almost a months time. Prospect looks good and our aim should be to get promoted for Asian Cup and Win Saff Championship. Wishing Maldivian football all the best.
Maldivian on Nov 13
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What we need is a good playmaker.
Ahan on Nov 13
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No mexican wave..boo hoo
caugthoffside on Nov 15
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Actually we are suffering from an attacking midfielder in the mould of Oppo or Bonda who could deliver that deadly pass to the strikers. Maldives had few moments they could have utilised with right range of pass at the right time but the harried midfielders made a hash of it. Ashfaq on three occasions complained because the ball was not released at the correct time. He had had an outstanding partnership Umair from their time together at New Radiant but of late Umair is either out injured out or not in the kind of form to get an automatic first team appearance. I was scratching my head to know what our game plan, in fact there was none! Ashfaq was the main striker but it was wasteful crosses all day long in hope rather than any expectation. Dhagandey as we all know is not a good header of ball, nothing good played to his path what was this crosses all about. When you don’t play to strikers’ strength, what remote possibility will be there even to make an odd chance to count against a team of Hong Kong level?

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