ACLSports.com: Your team won the tournament but did we watch an average team today?
Abdallah: No. Contrary to what many people thought, Ivory Coast are a very good team. Although they lost to Ghana on Friday, they played very well. I never thought they would be easy to overcome. And they showed just that all through the game especially in the first set.
ACLSports.com: Your team struggled in the first set which they almost lost but were able to snatch a 24-26 win. What happened?
Abdallah: Ivory Coast knew they were coming to face the tournament’s favourites and so they began very strongly, but we had to calm it down with lots of experience to win the opening set.
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ACLSports.com: Your girls came out for the second set spitting fire. What did you tell them during the break?
Abdallah: Don’t be distracted. Keep focus. We have to and must win. Attack and attack. Our strength has been largely in our services, which I urged them to do with more strength. And then we played a more compact game that helped us to block and cover very well.
ACLSports.com: You are through to the next round. How will you prepare, considering the fact that your outfit lacks major sponsorship from the Nigerian ministry sports?
Abdallah: We need good and adequate preparation. Our federation needs funds to put everything in place and we ought to be provided with the means to have a lengthy preparation.
