Melque: 'The coach's half-time talk was very important'
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Melque has revealed that the inspirational talk delivered by coach Conde helped Mozambique to come back from a goal down to to defeat Libya at the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Algeria.
The midfielder was named the TotalEnergies Man of the Match as the Mambas recovered from the initial setback to win the Group A game 3-2 at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.
Melque, who also scored during the match to help his side, says the Mambas' fate was decided at half-time.
"In the dressing room, the coach woke us up. He told us that we had not come all this way to leave empty-handed. He told us we are Mozambique, we have to improve our game, and started praying."
The prayer was answered in the second-half as Mozambique scored three goals and despite a late rally by Libya, the Mambas held on to win the match and more to four points.
"We showed what we are capable of today. I think this match will be our reference point. We attacked together, defended together, celebrated our goals together, we are a team.
With this victory, Mozambique's hopes of qualifying for the quarter-final remains alive.
"We will rest a little, then we will prepare for our last group match against Algeria in front of their home crowd," the 25-year-old Black Bulls winger concluded with a broad smile before leaving the press conference room of the Nelson Mandela Stadium.
Chiquinho's menwill clash with Algeria on Saturday 21 January 2022 at 19:00 GMT
