CHAN: Suleiman impressed with Tanzania’s tactical plan to defeat Mauritania

Tanzania head coach Hemed Suleiman believes that the team’s tactical approach to the game enabled them to defeat Mauritania 1-0 in their second fixture of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Wednesday.

Having won their Group B opener 2-0 against Burkina Faso, the Taifa Stars registered their second straight win courtesy of a late strike from veteran defender Shomari Kapombe.

Played under the floodlights, the clash remained 0-0 until the 89th minute when Kapombe latched onto a clever through ball from Iddy Nado and slotted past Abderrahmane Sarr to spark wild celebrations from the home fans.

“First of all, I want to thank the Tanzanian fans who created such an electric atmosphere during the match. It was a tough encounter. We started the game with difficulty, and we knew Mauritania would sit deep, stay compact, and look to launch long balls forward,” Suleiman said as quoted by CAFOnline.com.

He continued: “It was a good match. Mauritania played defensively and used long passes, which made things hard for us. But our substitutions were successful. I think it was a tactical game, and we managed to win it.”

He added: “We’ll return to training and work on correcting our mistakes. We’ll also look at how to improve our attacking efficiency. Scoring is not easy when your opponent plays with six or seven players in defence. We managed the first half well, and in the second half, we brought in some substitutes. Those changes allowed us to shift the tempo of the game.”

On securing another three points, he said: “The important thing is getting three points. We’ll fix our mistakes during training. Our main goal remains qualification to the next round, and hopefully our next game will be even better.

“We must attack as much as we can when facing defensive teams. This match was a tactical battle. Our players followed instructions and played exactly how I told them. I had warned them it would be a difficult match.”

Tanzania will face Madagascar in their final Group B fixture, while Mauritania will need nothing less than a win against Burkina Faso to keep alive their hopes of qualifying.