CHAN: Guinea lacked finishing touch to convert opportunities – Bangoura

Guinea captain Alhassane Bangoura believes they deserved more from their TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) fixture against Algeria had they converted the many chances they created.

The West Africans suffered early exit despite Ismaël Camara’s fine strike midway through the second half had put them on course for a vital victory in their fight to stay in the CHAN.

However, Algeria struck late courtesy of Soufiane Bayazid to level matters with only two minutes remaining, to preserve their unbeaten record and end Guinea’s slim hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

Bangoura, who was named man of the match, said after the game: “I would like to dedicate this award to my teammates and the people of Guinea, who have supported us until now.

“Of course, I would have preferred to win the match to earn points and see how that would have benefited us in the tournament. Today, we lacked the finishing touch to convert our opportunities.”

On Guinea’s campaign at CHAN, he said: “We lost two important games that we could not afford to lose. There will undoubtedly be many regrets, but we will come back, learn our lessons, and work for the future.”

The result left Guinea on four points from four games, their hopes of progressing hanging by a thread, while Algeria moved to five points and remained firmly in contention for a quarter-final place ahead of their final group match.