Abdallah Selami lauds Mourabitounes maiden Futsal AFCON appearance
Experienced Mauritania coach Abdallah Selami has praised the Mourabitounes debut TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON appearance following their narrow 7-6 defeat against Egypt on Tuesday.
The Pharaohs of Egypt came from 3-1 in the first half to narrowly beat Mauritania with six second half goals.
"I'm very proud of my players because they gave us a lot of great emotions and congratulations to Egypt for their qualification to the semifinals," said Abdallah Selima.
"It was our final match and coming into the match we hoped to win and qualify to the semifinals but we knew we were going to face a great Egyptian team with a lot of technique and experience."
Egypt assistant coach Sameh Saleh Husein paid tribute to the Mauritanian side and their respected coach.
"We prepared very well for this match because we have some much respect for Mauritania and their coach Abdallah Selami," said Sameh Saleh Husein.
"In every tournament they're progressing and during our meeting in the Arab championship we won 7-2. Tonight they were very close to us as it was a difficult match."
The Pharaohs needed the half time interval to recharge and Sameh Saleh Husein revealed what was said during the break.
"During the break we told our players to change their mindset and in the end we succeeded by scoring six times in the second to win our third consecutive match," said Sameh Saleh.
Egypt will face Angola in the semifinals on Friday, 19 April at 19:00 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Hall for a World Cup ticket and place in Sunday's final.
"We must for our semifinal against Angola which will be the most important match for us to qualify for the next FIFA World Cup," said the Egyptian assistant coach.
"Our target is to reach the final and win the competition but the most important task now is to get to the final we must win the semi final against Angola.
"When you win the semifinal you have only one step remaining to win the competition so before thinking about the final we must focus on Angola."