The head coach of the Mozambique U-20 national team, Dario Monteiro is adamant that his Young Os Mambas will secure qualification to the quarterfinals of the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
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Mozambique will face Nigeria on Saturday evening after their 3-0 Wednesday’s defeat to Senegal.
“We are now preparing to face Nigeria on Saturday. The match is not easy, but we are holding on to our chance to rise and we will fight for victory. It is now clear, either we win or we return to our country,” Monteiro told football journalists at his post-match conference on Wednesday.
“We performed well in the first half and prevented Senegal from scoring any goal. We also took the initiative to attack and tried to score, but we did not take advantage of the opportunity.
“The situation was completely different in the second half, and the team could not continue to resist the Senegal attack. We have to admit that the Senegal national team is very strong and we have more time to reach their level.”
Mozambique are bottom of Group A after the heavy defeat. Egypt, by virtue of a supposedly better result, though suffered a defeat to Nigeria, are third on the log.
“Currently, we only think about the Saturday match, and we will start working on it from now in order to preserve all our chances of qualifying for the next round,” the Mozambique coach concluded.
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