Mozambique edge Guinea-Bissau to clinch AFCON qualification
Mozambique complete smash-and-grab victory over Rwanda, reach Nations Cup after 13-year absence
6:21 CAT | 18 Jun 2023
Image: Twitter / CAT Online
Mozambique secured their place in the next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a 2-0 away victory over Rwanda in a Group L qualifier on Sunday.
Maritimo winger Geny Catamo opened the scoring for the visitors just two minutes before halftime, while substitute forward Clesio Bauque doubled the lead in injury time.
📺 Rwanda 0-1 Mozambique | Goal: Geny Catamopic.twitter.com/ZKo4P6N5O6
— FootColic ⚽️ (@FootColic) June 18, 2023
90+3’: Clesio David Bauque doubles the lead for the visitors
Rwanda 0-2Mozambique#AFCON pic.twitter.com/Y2VYNNmunK
— The New Times (Sports) (@TimesSportRW) June 18, 2023
With only one game remaining in the qualifiers, Mozambique currently sit in second place in the group with seven points, four points ahead of third-placed Benin, who lost to already-qualified Senegal 3-1 in the same round.
Mozambique has four previous appearances in the continental competition, with their most recent one dating back to 2010, when they were eliminated from the group stages.
Mozambique complete smash-and-grab victory over Rwanda
Mozambique pulled off a defensive masterclass during their 2-0 win over Rwanda in their latest 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Huye Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Geny Catamo and Clesio Bauque saw Mozambique keep their Afcon qualification dream alive and subsequently jumped to second place in Group L. Sadly, Rwanda will now miss out on qualifying for the showpiece.
Mozambique commenced the first-half as the better of the two outfits and saw most of the ball during the opening five minutes of the encounter. In seeing less of the ball, Rwanda attempted to hit Mozambique on the break but made no real inroads toward the opposition goal.
Despite the lack of possession, Rwanda created the first notable goal scoring chances of the match. In finding success down the Mozambique left-hand flank, telling crosses into the box often troubled the visitor’s backline.
The hosts continued to apply pressure after their first few attempts on goal and frequently exploited the Mozambique high defensive line. However, the Mambas sat tight in warding off Rwanda’s attacking waves.
Mozambique struggled to make any mark on the encounter and was reduced to playing most of the ball inside their own half. In the meantime, the Mozambique goalkeeper was called into action on various occasions toward the end of the half.
Despite playing on the back foot for most of the half, Mozambique took the lead on the stroke of halftime. In a swift counter attacking move, Elias Pelembe found Geny Catamo with a looping ball into the penalty area, as the attacker calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net.
As the referee blew with the whistle for the restart, Rwanda immediately went on the attack in search of an equaliser. With Mozambique playing under the cosh, the home team played with a great deal of rhythm towards the hour mark.
It appeared that Mozambique were happy to surrender the ball for much of the second-half as Rwanda mounted pressure in the form of prolonged spells of ball possession. With 75 minutes of football played at the Huye Stadium, both teams rang in the changes and kicked into game management mode.
Mozambique’s doggish defending proved to be troublesome for the host nation as the Mambas were more than happy to set up shop toward the end of the tie.
In true smash and grab style, Mozambique doubled their advantage in the 94th minute as Clesio made the most of a sloppy bit of defending from the hosts. With Thierry Manzi looking to shield the ball at the corner flag inside his own half, Clesio disposed the defender and charged toward the penalty area before nutmegging the goalkeeper with a calm finish.
Rwanda: (0) 0
Mozambique: (1) 2 (Gatamo 43’, Clesio 94’)
Rwanda: Ntwari, Mutsinzi, Manzi, Imanishimwe, Serumogo (Ombolenga 83’), Hakizimana, Sahabo, Bizimana (Rubanguka 67’), Mugisha, Ruboneka (Biramahire 78’), Ntshuti (Mugisha 67’)
Mozambique: Urrubal, Malembana, Thauzene, Edmilson, Gatamo (Zacarias 72’), Domingues (Glido Lourenco 64’), Momade (Kambala 54’), Nangy, Domingos, Ratifo (Alexandre 72’), Witi (Clesio 54’)
Rwanda and Mozambique fight for the Group L remaining qualification ticket ⚔️#TotalEnergiesAFCONQ2023 pic.twitter.com/6bLjdA9bOm
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 18, 2023
Resultado final⚽️
Rwanda 🇷🇼0 🆚️ 2 🇲🇿 Mozambique
Geny Catamo ⚽️ Clesio Bauque ⚽️Moçambique Osmambas venceram Rwanda por 2 bolas a zero for da casa .#AFCONQualifiers #AFCON2023Q #Mozambique #Rwanda #HuyeStadium pic.twitter.com/NrHqyujxYw
— 🇲🇿Mozambique league (Moçamb⚽️la) (@moz_osmambas) June 18, 2023
Fulltime ⚽️ Mambas
Rwanda 🇷🇼 0🆚️ 2 🇲🇿 Mozambique
Mozambique win against Rwanda by 2🆚️0 away from home in Huye Stadium the Mambas are back in 2thposition with 7pts now the qualifying is in our hands against Benin in Mozambique Maputo #AFCONQualifiers #AFCON2023Q pic.twitter.com/37IHS8XzPo
— 🇲🇿Mozambique league (Moçamb⚽️la) (@moz_osmambas) June 18, 2023
Source: Ahram Online / CAF Online ( Super Sport
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