Herbert: Practices were few – it’s a concern

The Coach of the Maldivian National Football Team, Ricky Herbert has said that the biggest concern when coming out against Yemen tomorrow in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers is that the team had very few practices.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference today at the National Stadium before the match tomorrow, Herbert said that the Maldivian team had 2-3 practices.

He said that their only training match was against Valencia but intends to be ready for tomorrow’s match.

Coach Herbert said that tomorrow night would be a new beginning after the defeat at the World Cup Qualifiers and it’s a good new start for the players. And if the team wants to win the upcoming SAAF Championship, victory days needs to be achieved.

Herbert said that every coach would have concerns. He said that the playing displayed in the league are not so good and some players improve when they are selected for the National squad.

The Coach said that even if the Maldives won against Yemen in 2007, it was a long time ago and the Yemeni team has gone under a lot of changes. He said that as the Yemeni comes out to play tomorrow night, it is important to remember that they have played against bigger teams.