TotalEnergies U17 AFCON: We were under lesser pressure, says Mali coach

Mali’s head coach Soumaila Coulibaly says the fact that they had played one match before Cameroon when they faced off at the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Annaba on Thursday was an advantage to them.

Mali had already faced Burkina Faso, a match they won 1-0, while Cameroon was playing their first match since their initial game one opponents South Sudan had been eliminated from the competition.

Coulibaly says Cameroon played under more pressure and this played out to their advantage.

“Playing and winning the first game helped us a lot as we were mentally more relaxed. Cameroon played with a lot of calculations on their minds especially after our win and it made things a bit complicated for them,” the tactician said, speaking after the game.

With a quarter final ticket secured, the tactician says he is ready for anyone they come up against in the quarter finals, and he is more relaxed as they will play their quarter final duel in Annaba, and not have to change cities.

The tactician has reiterated their pre-tournament target of in the least booking a ticket to the World Cup, and from hence, will treat each match like a Cup final.

“We will have two more days of rest compared to the others and we will make maximum use of that. We are still chasing our objective which is at least to get to the semi-final,” the coach noted.

A passage to the semi-final assures them of a place at the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup.