Mohamed Kanfory Bangoura (Head Coach, Guinea)
Coming into this competition, my objective was at least to finish second, but we lost the semis. We played against a team (DR Congo) that was advanced mentally and technically, and very experienced. They had possession in the first half as my team was more defensive than offensive. In the second half, we woke up and it was better. Generally we had a good game and overall, I’m satisfied with the performance of my team.
Coming into this competition, my objective was at least to finish second, but we lost the semis. We played against a team (DR Congo) that was advanced mentally and technically, and very experienced. They had possession in the first half as my team was more defensive than offensive. In the second half, we woke up and it was better. Generally we had a good game and overall, I’m satisfied with the performance of my team.
We had played better matches in the past. We played our last match on Sunday in Rubavu (against Zambia) and had 48 hours to recover. Also the synthetic and natural pitch are two different things. We were better on the synthetic, on which we played all our previous matches.
My two key players, Ibrahima Sory Sankhon and Mohamed Thiam were neutralized by the Congolese and we are good when they are on the offensive.
Florent Ibenge (Head Coach, DR Congo)
When Guinea equalized, I told my players the match is not over. Let’s do what have been doing at training. They had to focus on the placing the ball during penalties and keep the match going as we have planned.
Guinea is a very dynamic team, and are sometimes referred to as the ‘Brazil of Africa’. All we had to do was to cut their play.
In the first half, all we planned was use our advantage of freshness and try tro score as many goals as possible. In the second half, we did our substitutions and managed to score in extra time. However a loss of concentration allowed Guinea to equalize. We had an ambition coming into a competition of this nature, which you have move match after match.
We won our first two matches and it gave us courage. Also we have players from TP Mazembe, who won the CAF Champions League and went to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Also, we had some players who were at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, where we won bronze. So we have players who have the potential to go as far as we can.
My two key players, Ibrahima Sory Sankhon and Mohamed Thiam were neutralized by the Congolese and we are good when they are on the offensive.
Florent Ibenge (Head Coach, DR Congo)
When Guinea equalized, I told my players the match is not over. Let’s do what have been doing at training. They had to focus on the placing the ball during penalties and keep the match going as we have planned.
Guinea is a very dynamic team, and are sometimes referred to as the ‘Brazil of Africa’. All we had to do was to cut their play.
In the first half, all we planned was use our advantage of freshness and try tro score as many goals as possible. In the second half, we did our substitutions and managed to score in extra time. However a loss of concentration allowed Guinea to equalize. We had an ambition coming into a competition of this nature, which you have move match after match.
We won our first two matches and it gave us courage. Also we have players from TP Mazembe, who won the CAF Champions League and went to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Also, we had some players who were at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, where we won bronze. So we have players who have the potential to go as far as we can.
By: Cafonline.com
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