Burkina Faso midfielder Abdoul Karim has been plugging the striking gap at Gor Mahia after all their talismen were ruled out by injury or illness.Karim was deployed as a false nine in the barren draw against Bandari and struggled to adapt to the uncharted territory as Gor Mahia were restricted to limited chances.The midfielder who has an Under 17 World Cup appearance under his belt is an attacking midfielder but has been utilized as a striker with Gor Mahia having an acute shortage of forwards.Speaking to Mozzart Sport, Karim revealed that having played as a number 10 he can comfortably slot in the apex of attack but admitted to struggling in the Bandari game. 🟢 | A big win in FKF quarter final match over Kariobangi Sharks 💪💪We are through to semis. FT: Gor Mahia 2 – 0 K. Sharks ⚽️ – ( Karim , Sydney) #Sirkal | #Betsafe pic.twitter.com/qWYBgWsjZA— ⚽️GOR MAHIA FC (@OfficialGMFC) June 10, 2021 “It is not that difficult to play as a striker because I used to play as a number 10 before so playing as a false nine is not that new to me, it’s just that I touch less of the ball in the number nine position and I’m a player who always wants the ball at his feet,”“Playing against Bandari was a very hard task because we played without a striker but coming from a loss and getting a draw against them was not bad because the loss was still playing in our minds so we wanted to play it safe,” said Karim.Jules Ulimwengu missed the Bandari clash due to illness while Tito Okello is yet to reunite with the squad after one of the squad players tested positive for Covid-19 while he was on duty with the South Sudan national team.In the defeat to Western Stima, Joachim Oluoch who is a defender was called from the bench to lead the line with Gor Mahia chasing the game.Karim noted that the Stima defeat could have been a blessing in disguise after going unbeaten in 13-games as it will fuel their drive for winning in the FKF Cup final against eternal rivals AFC Leopards. 🟢 | KARIM SPEAKS @KarimNikiema27 reaction after scoring his first goal 🗣️ | “lt was a hard game (against City Stars) because it’s been a while since we played… l am happy to score my first goal for the team. I am looking forward to score more & more.” #Sirkal | #Betsafe pic.twitter.com/7E6CewkdoI— ⚽️GOR MAHIA FC (@OfficialGMFC) May 16, 2021 “The loss against Stima did not go down well with us but we tried our best and sometimes in football you know everything will not go as you plan but I think the loss was taken positively as we need to work hard,”“We will have extra preparations for the final because of the loss as it dented our confidence but we know we can regain that if we win the final,” added Karim. (function (el) { window.addEventListener(“message”, (event) => { if (event.origin.startsWith(“https://www.sofascore”)) { if (el.id === event.data.id) { el.style.height = event.data.height + “px”; } } }); })(document.getElementById(“sofa-standings-embed-17654-34876”)); Standings provided by SofaScore LiveScore
