Mauritania’s grit impresses Lopez

DAR ES SALAAM: MAURITANIA head coach Garay Lopez praised his side’s resilience and character after a 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Wednesday. The results keep their hopes alive for a quarter-final appearance.

The hard-fought win came courtesy of a first-half penalty and marks Mauritania’s second consecutive victory in the tournament, a feat never before achieved by the nation at this level.

“Our team showed a lot of character from the start of the match,” Lopez said during the post-match press conference. “We are happy, we played well, we controlled the game, and we managed to score from a penalty kick. The first half of the match was fantastic.

We defended well and played better in attack as well.” Lopez acknowledged that the second half was more challenging, with signs of fatigue and pressure setting in, but credited his players for holding firm.

“The victory was very important. We now have seven points. We were excellent, but we still felt a little tired and under pressure in the second half,” he added.

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“We managed to win two consecutive matches in a major and strong tournament, something Mauritania had never achieved before.” Mauritania have now concluded their group campaign with seven points and just one goal conceded, which came against host nation Tanzania.

While Tanzania have already secured their spot in the quarterfinals with nine points and a game in hand, Mauritania must now wait for the outcome of Saturday’s match between Madagascar and Burkina Faso to learn its fate.

For Burkina Faso, the loss to Mauritania ended their hopes of progressing, while Madagascar remain in contention. A win for Madagascar would leave them level on points with Mauritania, in which case goal difference would decide who advances.

The Central African Republic, which has suffered three straight defeats, will complete their fixtures on Saturday, but has already been eliminated from the competition. His counterpart, Issa Balboune admitted that it was a difficult game and acknowledged that their opponents were better than them.

“We lost our match against Mauritania, which was very difficult. Our opponent was better than us, took advantage of their attacking opportunities more effectively and played better overall,” Balboune admitted, his expression revealing the sting of defeat.

Despite the disappointment, Balboune chose to focus on the lessons learned rather than dwell on the loss.

“Unfortunately, things changed during the match and went against our plans. We will continue to work to reach a better level than we have achieved. We will see what happens in the future.”