TotalEnergies U17 AFCON: Change of strategy helped us get Congo draw, says Remmane
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Algeria head coach Arezki Remmane says a change of strategy after conceding was the turning point to allow his side fight for a point in their 1-1 draw with Congo in their final Group A match of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Algiers on Friday night.
The home side was trailing 1-0, but battled to get back into contention and clinched a 1-1 draw to qualify for the quarter finals.
“After conceding, we changed our strategy and it allowed us to have more room for attack and we got the goal. I want to thank the players for their effort and now we will try to recover and be ready for the quarter finals,” the tactician said.
He has disclosed that they needed to put in some work to recover from the heavy loss to Senegal and knew they expected a tough outing against Congo.
“All the matches are difficult because everyone wants to fight to fulfil their dream of qualification to the World Cup. All three matches have been different because we approach them according to characteristic of the opponent,” said the tactician.
Meanwhile, Remmane has disclosed his reason for starting star striker and skipper Moslem Anatouf on the bench against Congo.
Anatouf came on as a sub to score the leveler for the home side, with his third goal of the tournament.
“The player had an injury in our last match that prevented him from training. He was in the squad but had not trained and that is why I decided to have him on the bench. He had to come in when we changed tactics,” he offered.
Algeria are now lining up a hugely anticipated North African clash against Morocco next Wednesday in Constantine in the quarter finals, with a ticket to the World Cup at stake.
Remmane says, his players will be ready to battle for a win.
