Head coach of the Mozambique national team, Chiquinho Conde says its every players’ dream to represent their national team against the best nations in the world.
Equally so as head coach, Conde dreams of testing his coaching acumen against the best in the world, as the southern African nation prepares to resume their FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Somalia on Friday, 07 June and Guinea three days later.
The former Mambas’ captain speaks to CAFOnline about his sides’ recent improvement shown at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations and their chances of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup™.
Coach your team showed great improvement at the recent TotalEnergies CAF AFCON, despite not going far. What do you attribute this growth to?
I confess that it wasn’t a complete success overall, because we wanted more despite no one believing in us being in a group with Egypt, the team with the most titles and Ghana, which has also won an AFCON and boasts brilliant players playing in European leagues.
There was also Cape Verde, which was a surprise to some but not to me because they have players with a lot of experience in European football. We were practically the outsiders, and we aimed to do our best. That draw in the final minutes against Egypt left a bitter taste as it kept us from advancing to the next stage. We deserved to progress for our bravery and the way we faced the game. We were close to achieving something different, but we learned a lot.
Now looking at the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, you are in a tough group consisting of Algeria and Guinea, what do you make of your chances?
We are in a tough group; it’s not new. We’ve been in a difficult group, considered the “group of death” in the AFCON, and we played on equal footing with these great teams. We faced Botswana and won with some difficulty, played at home against the formidable Algeria, and matched them toe-to-toe, only faltering in the details.
Playing in the World Cup is a dream for the players, and as a coach, I would love to be there. Today, the number of teams qualifying for the World Cup has increased, and we have a dream. We will fight to achieve our goals with humility and respect for our opponents, regardless of their calibre.
You play host to Somalia in Maputo, how challenging will this fixture be and what would be required for you to get a result?
Theoretically, they are an opponent within our reach, but as I said before, they deserve our respect and focus. We are already analysing their strengths, and as the saying goes, “better safe than sorry.”
We will approach the game with the same humility and responsibility. We confident of playing at home, where we are in charge, and we will not take anything for granted.
The increased number of African teams at the World Cup opens up more opportunities for Africa to be represented, what do you make of this?
Obviously, this is a significant step given the quality of most African players who play for major European and international teams. It is a great opportunity, but also a great responsibility because it is the biggest global event. It opens up the opportunity for all of us to continue our dream. Being at the World Cup is the dream of all of us.
Should you qualify for the World Cup, what would be your desired finish or goal?
We still have matches to play in this first round, followed by the second round. All of us have this possibility. Now, if we achieve this feat, it will certainly be the pinnacle of any player’s career, and I, as the coach, would be associated with the greatest moment in our football history. We will then start thinking about the next phase once we have accomplished this one.
