AFCON: Mozambique deserved to win and played a great game – Chiquinho Conde

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

AFCON: Mozambique deserved to win and played a great game – Chiquinho Conde

5:37 CAT | 15 Jan 2024

File photo: Lance

Chiquinho Conde was naturally pleased with Mozambique’s performance in this inaugural game of the African Cup of Nations – CAN-2023, which culminated in a 2-2 draw against the powerful Egypt team, secured by a 97th-minute penalty scored by Mohamed Salah. The ‘Mambas’ helmsman considered that Mozambique deserved to win and, based on the opinion of his players, Conde considered that the penalty was forced.

It was with a bittersweet feeling that Conde presented himself to a battalion of Mozambican journalists, and the Mambas coach rued the draw with the Pharaohs, in a match in which he considered that Mozambique deserved to win.

“It was sad, because our brave players deserved another result for what we did today, and you were watching and saw some situations that we worked on in that short period of time in tactical terms and adapted to the circumstances. We adapted to what the game was like. to dictate because we felt that we were unable to have numerical superiority in the midfield area, Salah was very loose and did not go down below middle field to defend, and at this stage of the construction, we had some difficulty, we changed to a line of three and then we managed to better balance the game, and with faster and more versatile players we came out quickly on the counterattack and managed to hurt the opponent,” Conde commented.

Egypt’s equalizer came through a stoppage-time penalty, with Mohamed Salah having an afternoon of the brilliance that characterizes him.

Salah scored the 97th-minute penalty as Mozambique were seconds away from their first ever AFCON win when the Mambas went into a shock 2-1 lead at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium.

Regarding the stoppage-time penalty, Conde commented: “Well, in terms of arbitration, CAF had already warned us that they could go for compensation [stoppage-time], but there weren’t many stops, or rather, there were some. But in any case, it’s subjective. There’s the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) now. A lot of the time, the VAR system comes to help, but sometimes it also complicates things a little because it influences the decision. I didn’t see the play (that originated the penalty decision), I honestly don’t know. My players say it was very forced, it was a fight for the ball. You need to be very cautious at that point at the end of the game, you’re tired, etc. But it was sad we couldn’t win here because we deserved it.”

Researching Egypt worked

Conde said that the game went as expected, having recalled the warning he had been making regarding the power and failures of the Egyptian team. “I said at the beginning that every team always has a negative or weak side, and we saw it, we studied it with the players and we analysed it. We were happy with our idea, I think the players interpreted this alternative of playing as a three [with a 3-4-3 system] very well, so we are all to be congratulated. I think Mozambique saw a wonderful national team here, the fantastic players and that they can only be satisfied with everything we did,” said the coach.

The substitutions made at the end of the first half and throughout the second stage of the match, gave another consistency to Mozambique’s game, which was corroborated by Chiquinho Conde who changed the tactical disposition of the Mambas, mixing up Rui Vitória’s accounts.

“We were playing in a 4-2-3-1 line, the lack of rhythm from both Dominguez and the players who came from Moçambola was perfectly noticeable. In the absence of rhythm, there are no miracles and from that perspective, we tried to adjust according to Gildo’s exhaustion in the first half due to the high heat. There was a lot of exhaustion on my players and we were already considering these changes because Bruno Langa is doing well too, but the two left backs (along with Reinildo) can’t play, so I had to adjust and I had the humility to understand and adjust the tactical situation so that we could be more comfortable. I think it worked perfectly. Now let’s work on it. If you ask me, will Mister play in the 3-4-3 system with Cape Verde, I confess that I don’t know, let’s see, let’s analyse and see what we did well and what we can improve,” the Mozambican coach stated.

Time to prepare for game with Cape Verde

After the draw, Conde says it is important to rest the team and start preparation work for the second round game against Cape Verde, who are coming off a victory over Ghana. For this match, the Mambas will now be able to count on the presence of Geny, who served a one-game suspension due to the accumulation of yellow cards.

“Well, now let’s rest. It was a very difficult game, a lot of emotions, a lot of exhaustion. Let’s see some players who have some problems like Clésio, also see the situation of Dominguez himself, and then recover, analyse and see how Cape Verde plays. With Geny’s return we can also better adapt the game against Cape Verde, we’ll see. They are two different opponents and we will approach the game calmly now,” Conde said.

By Alfredo Júnior ,in Abidjan

Source: Lance Moz