Harouna Doula Gabde: "Despite elimination, the team showed progress"
Niger’s head coach, Harouna Doula Gabde, praised the progress of his young team despite acknowledging the limitations that led to their early elimination. "The first satisfaction is seeing the overall behavior of the group. We were well-organized defensively and managed to contain one of the group’s favorites, like South Africa," he stated.
Doula highlighted the performance of the goalkeeper and the defensive resilience of his team but lamented the lack of efficiency in attack. "We created some opportunities, especially from set pieces, but we lacked aggression and efficiency to convert them. Offensively, we still have a lot to improve. If we had been more precise in attack, we could have made life even harder for our opponents," he remarked.
The coach made a point of emphasizing the youthfulness of the squad, which has an average age of just 24 years. "This is a team in transition. Compared to the previous edition, where we reached the semi-finals, this is practically a new team. Only three players remained from that campaign. We are building for the future, and this competition served as an experience-building opportunity for these young players," he explained.
Despite the elimination, Doula expressed satisfaction with the collective and individual progress of his players. "We started poorly against Guinea, improved against Uganda, and today we were more solid defensively. Playing against teams like South Africa and Algeria is always a challenge, but we are leaving here with important lessons for the future of Nigerien football," he concluded.
Molefi Ntseki: "A draw wasn’t ideal, but we remain in the fight"
On the South African side, head coach Molefi Ntseki acknowledged that the draw was not the desired result but emphasized the importance of earning a point that keeps his team at the top of the group. "In tournament football, there are three possible results: win, draw, or loss. Today we drew, and this keeps us in the fight for qualification. Now we are fully focused on the next game," he declared.
Ntseki praised Niger for their defensive organization and the progress they showed throughout the competition. "We knew it would be a tough game. Niger had nothing to lose and played with a lot of determination. They showed that they learned from their previous matches and made things very difficult for us. In the end, they were the ones celebrating the draw, while we had hoped for more," he commented.
The South African coach also highlighted the balance in Group C and the significance of the final game against Uganda. "No team has secured qualification yet, which makes the tournament even more exciting. Monday will be decisive for all of us. We’ll be playing against a team that has had more rest, but we are prepared for the challenge," he stated.
The goalless stalemate has left Group C finely balanced heading into the final round of fixtures. Uganda sit top on six points, despite not playing in this round.
South Africa and Algeria are level on five points, with Algeria ahead on goal difference, while Niger collected their first point but remain bottom alongside eliminated Guinea.
The permutations are clear: South Africa must now beat hosts Uganda in their final match to be certain of qualification.
Algeria, meanwhile, require only a draw against already-eliminated Niger to advance.
For Niger, the draw marked their farewell to the competition. Without a win in three matches, Harouna Doula Gabde’s team exits CHAN 2024 with the feeling that they could have achieved more, but with the certainty that the tournament served as an opportunity for growth for a young and renewed squad.
