TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON: Trust is increasingly being placed in African coaches - Abdoulaye Salami

Head coach of the Mauritania national futsal team, Abdallah Salami believes TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON debutants, Mauritania can do well at the continental showpiece set to take place in Morocco next month.

The seventh edition of the indoor football competition sees Mauritania joining Namibia as the two debutants of the competition and their coach, Salami who was appointed in June 2022 believes they can leave a mark at the tournament set to take place between 11 – 21 April.

CAFOnline sat down with the Moroccan-born coach who shared his thoughts on his team ahead of the competition as well as the exciting trend of African coaches doing well in major CAF competitions.

Cafonline.com: Mauritania is drawn in Group B alongside Egypt, Libya and Namibia. What are your impressions?

Salami Abdullah: It is a difficult group. We will meet two giants of futsal: Egypt and Libya. The “Pharaohs” won the Futsal AFCON three times and were runners-up three times. Libya also won this competition. So, these two teams have experience. We also have to be careful of Namibia. Certainly, this will be our team's first participation in the competition. Our team is well organized because and has been working hard to doing well in Morocco.

You are of Moroccan origin, and the competition will take place in Morocco. Is this something that you keep at the back of your mind?

I am proud and eager to accomplish my mission well with Mauritania. Of course, playing this competition in Morocco is also motivating. I am particularly happy to share this with all my African brothers, whether they come from Mauritania, the south, the north, the east or the west of the continent. I would like to add that the rivalry will only happen inside the field, but outside, we are all brothers and friends.

Mauritania continues to rely on African coaches, such as the Comorian coach, Amir Abdou, who heads the senior Mauritanian national team. Is the trust given to African coaches important to you?

This is a collaboration that makes sense to me. Trust is increasingly being placed in African coaches and this is a big thing that drives us to excel. As people of the continent, we have a great desire to see Africa progress, and it is our duty to contribute to it. We African coaches love to share our skills, and that's how we achieve good results.

Finally, what objectives have you set for this competition?

Since we are here, we can do it! I trust our national team players and all my technical staff. I know we can do something good during this competition and so we have to believe in ourselves and work hard to reach as far as possible.