Mozambique national team arrive in Vilankulo today
The national beach soccer team of Mozambique, arrive today in Vilankulo, after having started in the morning the trip to Inhambane province, where from October 21 to 28 will the eighth edition of the Beach Soccer AFCON.
The team coached by Abineiro Ussaca, as well as the technical, medical and support staff, have already travelled to the touristic point. But they will not count with the presence of Nelson Manuel, the best scorer and player of the Mozambican team, for the beginning of the camp.
Manuel who is the biggest star of the Beach Warriors will only join the team in Vilankulo next Sunday, October 16, because his club Ferroviário de Maputo engagement in Moçambola.
Nelson, who is a goal scorer on the beach, is a central defender in classic football and this season he has gained indisputable status as a starter, so Ferroviario de Maputo, the club he represents in the professional football league does not want to give up on his services.
It should be noted that the star was recently voted best player and best scorer of COSAFA beach Soccer for the second consecutive edition (2021 and 2022), after winning the best African player and scorer of AFCON 2021.
According to the work programme, the athletes will arrive in Vilankulo to take the day off to rest and regenerate from the travel fatigue for the first training session on the Vilankulo beach. It will be the first of five that the host has planned, ahead of the AFCON opener on the 21st with Malawi in Group "A".
Meanwhile, last Thursday, the Beach Warriors held their last training session at the Costa do Sol Arena under the watchful eye of Abineiro Ussaca, who demanded maximum concentration in offensive and defensive actions and greater accuracy in finishing, aspects that contributed negatively to Mozambique not being able to defend the COSAFA Cup title, having settled for fourth place.
"After the COSAFA tournament I had a talk with my players and made them understand that we were not good in many aspects. I'm talking about concentration and finishing and from there to here I notice a good evolution. I think that in a way it was good to have what happened to us in COSAFA, since we needed to realize that we are not the best and that we still have a long way to go", observed the Mozambican coach.