CHAN; Madagascar were good despite playing with 10-men – Sudan’s Appiah

Sudan national team coach Kwesi Appiah has praised Madagascar after they booked their place in a historic first TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) after edging out Sudan 1-0 in a tense semifinal contest at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Tanzania.

A late strike from substitute Toky Rakotondraibe in the 116th minute proved decisive, capping a dramatic extra-time contest and sending the Barea into Saturday’s final in Nairobi, where they will face the winner of the second semi-final between Morocco and Senegal.

“I think that tactically, the second half was not on our side. In a football match, the winning team should not waste the only opportunity it gets to score. Our opponents, Madagascar, played well, and with only 10 players, they were good,” Appiah said as quoted by CAFOnline.com.

“This is a building process, and unfortunately, for two and a half years, we haven’t had a league in Sudan. If things stabilize and the local league resumes, things might improve, and we can hope for better results. We believe that with determination, we can achieve what we want, and we will do well in our upcoming matches.”

On what they achieved from CHAN in East Africa, the Ghanaian coach said: “This tournament gave us, first and foremost, an opportunity to win matches and compete. We have four players in the senior team who will join us in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

“We will work to ward off the specter of defeat and improve our performance in the future.”

While Sudan will face former defending champions Senegal in the third place play off, Madagascar will come up against Morocco in the final on Saturday.