World Cup (Q): Chiquinho Conde banks on Mozambique’s homeground

Mozambique’s Mambas coach Chiquinho Conde hopes playing at home could help his side return to winning ways when welcoming Botswana on Monday.

The two teams meet at Zimpeto National Stadium in Maputo for the World Cup qualifier. CAF and FIFA inspectors gave the stadium the greenlight to host matches though with a reduced capacity of just 20,000.

Now ahead of the match against Botswana, Conde said he was positive that the Mambas would bounce back from the weekend’s 4-0 hammering by Uganda.

“It’s always a pleasure, a privilege, although I said in the past that it is very difficult to win here, but we have overcome that,” Conde is quoted as saying by Mozambique news website SportJogos.

“No two games are the same, no two seasons are the same. The pitch is much better, and it’s good for the players to have the joy of playing on a good pitch, at least physically.”

Conde said he wished the stadium’s capacity was full to give the Mambas full vocal support.

“It’s a shame the stadium can’t be full of our fans, but those who are here will obviously help us achieve a good result. Life is like that; even if we don’t have the opportunity to change what happened in the past, at least it gives us the opportunity to make up for the mistakes we made before,” the coach said.

Conde believes that home advantage could be crucial for Mozambique to win and keep its hopes alive in the qualifying round. Both teams are smarting from heavy defeats. Mozambique lost 4-0 to Uganda in Kampala while Algeria punished Botswana 3-1 over the weekend.

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