Dar es Salaam — Tanzanite Queens Head Coach Bakari Shime has called for a mental reset as his side prepares for their second FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup Group B fixture, saying they must put the fear of facing big-name opponents behind them.
The Queens opened their campaign with a 4-1 defeat by Brazil at the weekend, but Shime believes the result exposed a bigger problem than the score line.
His players failed to carry out the tactical instructions prepared by the technical staff, leaving the coach frustrated and unable to properly assess his game plan.
Shime said the players allowed the reputation of Brazil to affect their approach, particularly in the opening stages, when they gave their opponents too much space and conceded early.
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"Maybe there were things that built fear in them as players and automatically they became the second-best team and gave space to our opponents," Shime said.
Brazil had planned to force an early goal and Shime felt his players failed to respond as they had been prepared to do in training.
The coach has since used video analysis and practical work on the training ground to show the players where they went wrong.
He said they admitted that they had moved away from the instructions given to them. Now, Shime wants his players to change their mindset before the next fixture.
"We have to push them to realise they are playing 11 against 11," he said.
"They should stop thinking about England or Tanzania. They should think of themselves as 11 players and those others as 11 players."
For Shime, the response will be as much mental as tactical. He believes the Queens have spent enough time preparing for the tournament and must now trust that work when they step on to the pitch.
"Their major responsibility is to follow the instructions of what we have prepared for almost a whole month, starting from back home up to here," he said.
The Brazil defeat has also left the technical staff with an important question. Because the players did not execute the original plan, Shime says it is difficult to determine whether the tactics themselves need changing.
"If we had followed the instructions and then failed, perhaps we would have had to change to another tactic for this coming match," he said.
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That makes the next fixture an important test of whether the Queens can translate their preparation into a disciplined performance.
Despite the disappointment, Shime believes there were positives to take from the opening match. Tanzania scored their first goal of the tournament, even as Brazil celebrated reaching 100 goals in the competition.
