After his team’s 1-0 loss to Cape Verde in the Round of 16 of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations which ended the Lions of Chinguetti’s participation at the tournament, the coach of Mauritania, Amir Abdou is not disappointed with his team’s performance at the competition.
Mauritania made the Blue Sharks to work hard before Ryan Mendes’ 88th-minute penalty winner proved the difference against West African neighbours Mauritania in a stiflingly hot Abidjan.
“The analysis that I can carry out is that we are not disappointed getting out of the competition after conceding a goal,” Abdou told journalists after the match.
“We were compelled to make some substitution because some player are injured. We did not actually deserve this because we have opportunities to score goals.
“Yes. We were in a transition phase. We actually had possibilities to create chances that will translate to goals. After conceding a goal, it was a disappointment. We need to learn from our mistakes. We have a great future ahead of us.”
Mauritania had reasons for encouragement as well, pressing relentlessly and showing no fear in their first-ever AFCON knockout match.
In an attempt to capitalise on Mauritania’s positive attacking spell, head coach Amir Abdou introduced Pape Ibnou Ba and former Fulham man Aboubakar Kamara, while on 72 minutes, Bubista brought on Garry Rodrigues and Kenny Rocha Santos.
“I think we are the team that actually exhausted all our substitutions.” He continued. “Maybe the player that came wasn’t psychologically prepared. We have chances which we didn’t take that actually led to the defeat.
“Perhaps, maybe I didn’t know. This is prior to confirmation but I will work with the team for at least a year and discussed with the Federation after this tournament.
“I take responsibility for some of the choices I made. It is cruel for us that we had goal scoring opportunities. We had to also come back to defend. This is part and parcel of football game. The team will keep growing and we keep working. I know that Mauritania gave a good image of themselves.
“Yes. We are competitors and have the aim to win matches. I am not upset. We had opportunities to score which was irritating. Players were heroic to play at this stage. We have to pick the positives from the game.
“I am not in the mind of the players. These are individual errors. It wasn’t a tactical issue but had to do with concentration of players. When you play in a high competition like AFCON, such mistakes occur. We gave our opponents a lot of gifts and it is unfortunate that we won’t be playing in the quarter final.” He concluded.
As expected, Mauritania fought hard to get an equaliser as 10 minutes of stoppage time were added on, but Cape Verde held on to record their third AFCON victory at Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium.
Copyright 2024 © kick442.com Cote d’Ivoire
All rights reserved. This material and any other digital content on this platform may not be reproduced, published, broadcasted, written in full or parts, without a written permission from our management
This site is not responsible for contents displayed by external sites
English 
French