No tension. No pressure. No weight of a nation on their shoulders.
This has been the mood at the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire between 12 – 13 September, where head coaches of national teams across the African continent came together to discuss the current coaching trends in the aftermath of the AFCON 2023.
At breakfast, during coffee breaks, lunch and dinner, coaches who mostly met on the touchlines of many a stadium across Africa found themselves deep in conversations about football – the beautiful game – the one that has for decades defined who they are character-wise but also that has defined their personas.
“This is a great event. A lot of learning, a lot of reflection. You always learn from reflections and in general, it is good to bring coaches together to exchange, to bring different perspectives, to discuss different sections like goalkeeping, analysis, statistics and the coaches’ views. I had a lot of good talks at breakfast,” explained Otto Addo, Ghana head coach.
“It is good to meet coaches in a different environment. To be honest, some coaches are not sympathetic especially during the game but when you get to know them now, they are much stress free and then you can see their main character and they regret how they were but sometimes, that is how emotions are so it is a good place to get to know each other and also, there are a lot of coaches that I did not know,” he added.
“So, it is interesting to listen to them and to see which problems they face also then we compare, sometimes you think you have problems, but some have even worse problems, so it is just very, very good to see other perspectives, other opinions and to discuss other things. It is a great opinion to learn.”
In the coaches’ panel discussion, Mauritania head coach Amir Abdou who was sitting in between the Angola coach Pedro Gonçalves and Cape Verde coach Pedro ‘Bubista’ Brito joked that it was rather peculiar to sit in between two coaches he lost to recently.
Angola edged Mauritania 3-2 in Group D in Bouaké in January while Cape Verde edged Mauritania 1-0 nine days later in the Round of 16 in Abidjan at the AFCON 2023 and this week on Tuesday 2-0 in the AFCON 2025 Qualifiers.
“I am joking though but on a serious note, it is a great pleasure to be here sharing with my colleagues and learning from all the presentations as we analyze the AFCON 2023. We might be on opposite ends during matches, but we are colleagues,” Abdou said.
The Lions of Chinguetti despite these two losses mesmerised many at home and abroad with their fighting spirit, resilience and ability to dream big even when the odds were stacked against them progressing from the group stages at the third time of asking.
Bubista added to the charm, “We have immense respect for each other. We are brothers in arms regardless of the result of the game. This has been a great experience.”
The matchups continue between the two coaches with Mauritania set to host Cape Verde in the upcoming TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2025 Qualifiers on 18 November in Nouakchott in the return leg of this decisive fixture.
Both teams have amassed a win each over Botswana and are tied at three points with a -1 goal difference behind table leaders Egypt who have six points in Group C.
CAF