Mozambique v Ivory Coast: ‘Best team not about players’ – Conde

Mozambique coach Chiquinho Conde has deflected pressure off his players ahead of Wednesday’s battle against defending champions Ivory Coast at the CAF 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.

Despite the obvious quality of the AFCON holders, Conde has told his players to have self-belief stressing that best teams are not about having stars but the collective.

“I feel a happy and united team, and that is a very important fact. The best team is not the one that has the best players individually, but the one that plays as a true team,” he told the Mozambique Football Federation website.

The coach admitted that his team had not had the desired preparations, having regrouped late on December 15 in Portugal for camp training. The Mozambicans flew to Morocco for the AFCON finals on Friday.

“We had a long and tiring trip and little time to train. On the day of the training match, we did only light work in the morning, but, even so, it was important to give more playing time to the athletes and work on the physical component,” he said.

Conde’s Biggest Concern for Mozambique At AFCON

Conde further bemoaned the late arrival in camp of key players such as Edmilson Dove, Bangal and Bruno Langa, coupled with injuries to key stars.
Mozambique have never gone past the group stages, but they hope to do better this time around despite being placed in the same Group with Gabon and other heavyweights Cameroon.

The opening match for the group between Mozambique and Ivory Coast will take place at Stade de Marrakech at 7:30 Central Africa Time on Wednesday. The next assignment for Conde’s side will be against Gabon on December 28, then Cameroon on December 31.