PNG soccer team needs to control tempers

 I WOULD like to comment on the PNG men’s soccer team’s performance so far. 

I watched their game against New Zealand and saw something that was a bit worrying. 

The PNG team played well but need to keep their tempers down in order to play better football in future. 

It is good to play clean and aggressive but no signs of violence must show. 

Maintaining mental toughness in such big games is paramount to being a good player. 

PNG players seem to lose their cool too quickly. 

It should be put into their heads that cool heads will most often win tough games because when a player gets angry, he loses concentration and that allows the opposition to take advantage.  

However, this PNG team has done quite well and it will not be long before they start winning games at such high level competitions. 

Ball possession by our players for longer periods was clearly missing in the game against New Zealand. 

A team is most likely to win a match if it starves its opponent of the ball. 

The rush of blood in PNG players was also evident. The midfielders failed to take control of the ball. 

It is as simple as that – if you cannot score you don’t win. 

With tall goalkeepers in goal you cannot score from wild long range shots. 

Nevertheless, I commend PNG coach Ricky Hebert for grooming a good team, which has a lot of potential to become champions.

 And if the current players stick together for some time, they will start winning the big matches. 

Finally, congratulations to the PNG women’s team for a great win against Fiji.  

You have done your country proud. 

Wopa Soka

NCD