… Dover upbeat about team’s chances

GUYANA’S Alpha United only have themselves to blame for their 1–0 loss to CD Olimpia of Honduras in the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League when the two met at the Guyana National Stadium on Tuesday night. 

It was the first game of the CONCACAF showpiece which features the top clubs from North and Central America along with the Caribbean.
Coming up against Honduras’ most decorated club, Alpha United did everything but scored while being a little unlucky, after a gauche situation in 17th minute resulted in Honduras National Under-20 stalwart Alberth Elis scoring the game’s lone goal.
“We didn’t make use of our chances and didn’t work collectively,” explained Alpha’s coach Wayne Dover while speaking at the post-match press conference.
Dover’s men, especially Kithson Baine and Daniel Wilson, were guilty of squandering some certain goal chances at both sides of the pitch.
The Guyanese club were able to control the tempo of the game; something Dover said that they have been working on, stating, “We have spent a lot of time doing the defensive organisation because for long spells they will have possession and we just have to be disciplined and be behind the ball and prevent them from creating many chances, because once they’re allowed to create many chances they will score.”
In the second half, Dover replaced Daniel Wilson with Andrew Murray Jr, Sheldon Holder came in for captain Dwight Peters and Philbert Moffat took the field for defender Quincy Adams who suffered a cut to his forehead after a clash of heads with an opposition.
CD Olimpia also utilised their three substitutions, replacing the goalscorer Elis with Anthony Lozano, Bayron Dionicio for Omar Guerra and Oscar Salas took the position of David Meza on the pitch.
Unarguably one of the most successful coaches for both club and country, Dover was on point, given the fact that Olimpia were able to score on their only attempt on goal.
Panamanian International 19-year-old Aldair Paredes was sensational in the midfield for Alpha United and the player who featured in the FIFA U-17 World Cup created a few chances of his own with the closest coming in the dying stages of the second half.
With Alpha chasing an equalising goal, Paredes, struck a wonderfully timed right-foot shot from approximately 25 yards out from goal and the on-target shot forced CD Olimpia keeper Donis Escober to pull off a daring save which ensured that the score-line remained in the Hondurans’ favour.
Escober was superb between the uprights and the keeper who featured for Honduras during the just concluded FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil was called upon to pull off several saves during the heated contest.
CD Olimpia boasts at least five players who participated at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and is Honduras top club having won the country’s Professional league title an unprecedented 27 times.
Dover believes that though the result wasn’t in his team’s favour, the game was a success since they were able to contain a more oiled and ready CD Olimpia, especially in the second half.
The two teams will meet again in the return game on Thursday August 28; but first, Alpha United will host Portland Timbers of the MLS on Tuesday August 19 at the Guyana National Stadium.
Looking ahead at his next match, Dover said that he will have to work on his strikers finishing their clear-cut chances and hopefully get a more favourable result against one of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) top sides.
“I would not get beside myself to say that we so much in need of a three-point that we will just open ourselves. We will be very patient, work diligently because with these pro teams, you can’t approach those games disrespectfully; it’s easy to get five goals,” Dover said.

(By Rawle Toney)