Coach Solomon Ogbeide credits Lobi Stars for Gor Mahia win

Lobi Stars head coach, Solomon Ogbeide has attributed their qualification to the group stage of the Caf Champions League to the hard work they put into the preparation for the return leg tie which they won 2-0 to edge out Gor Mahia on the away goal rule applied.

Ogbeide confessed that they knew almost nothing about their first-round opponents prior to the first leg encounter and that they lost by such wide margin because of some inexplicable mistakes his players made during the course of the 90 minutes.

The veteran coach pointed out that they worked on their players’ psychology and also watched the match tapes of the first leg towards making appropriate corrections on the areas they faltered in Nairobi and that he was elated that his players played to instructions for the most part of the encounter in Enugu.  

“When we went to Kenya, we knew nothing about our opponents besides scanty information we got about them,” Ogbeide told media.

“We went to Nairobi very prepared but we could get it right there. They ought not to have beaten us the way they did at the end of the first 90 minutes and it was the reason I said it was based on our attitude that we lost the game and not that they were the better team.

"We worked on it psychologically. We looked at the match tapes and we saw where we faltered. We got their strong and weak points and we worked on them. When you have faith in your work you will remain very optimistic. I was very optimistic that we would win.

“It is football for you where blamed and credit are apportioned in almost equal proportion. If I win or lose I take responsibility. There were some obvious mistakes in Nairobi and I corrected them. Our own kind of correction is to guard against further reoccurrence and it is not to crucify them."

The tactician defended the choice of John Lawrence in goal and why Ospino Egbe who conceded three goals against K’Ogalo in Nairobi was omitted from the matchday squad completely.

“I don’t have the first team. What I do is to look at the team I am going to play and the players at my disposal,” he continued.

“I pick players based on my opponents and the pattern I intend adopting. It wasn’t because Egbe conceded two goals in the last game that made him be sacrificed for this game.”