When Mauritania’s national team arrived in Ivory Coast on Thursday, there it was: the last of the 24 teams to qualify for the finals of the 34th Africa Cup of Nations. The players, dressed in traditional national costume, proudly climbed out of the Mauretania Airlines plane that had delivered the team to the small airport at their venue in Bouaké.
The Western Sahara players’ homeland is largely desert and has one of the lowest population densities in the world. The almost five million inhabitants of Mauritania live primarily in the south of the country – in or near the capital Nouakchott.
The fact that Mauritania has now qualified for the final tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time in a row is something of a huge surprise. And yet the team from the desert state has set itself ambitious goals for the tournament in Ivory Coast.
Great hope for the coach
“We will try to do better than in previous tournaments,” said coach Amir Abdou after his team landed. They are betting on him as a blatant tournament underdog. Abdou comes from the Comoros. With his home country, he not only sensationally achieved the first qualification for the final tournament in 2022. At that time, he and the small island state defeated the multiple World Cup participants Ghana in the group game and moved into the first knockout round. The end followed with a 1:2 defeat against AFCON hosts Cameroon.
Mauritania’s coach Amir Abdou (r.) has proven with the Comoros that he can achieve something even as an outsiderImage: Tobi Adepoju/Shengolpixs/IMAGO
Back then, the 51-year-old coach manifested his reputation for being able to do a lot with a little. This aroused the desires of other, comparably small countries – including Mauritania. The Mauritanian team qualified for the 2019 and 2022 finals, but remained winless in the group phase and was eliminated early.
So now comes the third attempt – we want to do it better. And the coach, who worked as a social worker in France for many years before concentrating on football, identified the first game as a decisive one. “We will do everything we can to win in our first group game against Burkina Faso. That will be the key.”
Small country, big progress
In fact, the chances of progressing for the “Lions of Chinguetti” (Chinguetti is a trading post in the north of the country) don’t seem so bad. In addition to Burkina Faso, the group will face Angola and finally Algeria. The Algerian team is currently in a state of upheaval and is no longer considered to be as strong as in previous years. And Angola should definitely be on a level playing field with Mauritania. Since four of the six third-placed teams still make it into the knockout round, it could work.
With FIFA funds, the “Sheikh Buyidah Stadium” in Nouakchott was converted into a modern arena for 8,200 spectatorsImage: Alain Guy Suffo/Sports Inc./empics/picture alliance
“Mauritania is a very good example of how you can make great progress in football even in a small African country if you are clever,” Emeka Enyadike told DW. The sports director of the South African TV station Supersport works for various football associations and is considered a well-informed expert in African football.
Enyadike gives those responsible in Mauritanian football a glowing report for the last five years. “They have developed a lot very quickly. The money they received from FIFA was invested very intelligently. They have brought their training center and headquarters into very good technical condition and now have first-class job opportunities. That seems to me to be the reason for being able to qualify for the last three Africa Cups.”
FIFA money invested intelligently
The development is indeed astonishing considering that Mauritania’s national team was at its lowest point in 2009 when it withdrew from the qualifiers for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. At that time, football in the country was on the rocks. But in 2011, Ahmed Yahya took over as association president. “Stagnation in development is like a nasty disease,” said the entrepreneur when he joined. “You have to look at it, find the reasons and start healing it,” he said.
Mauritanian association president Ahmed Yahya Picture: Ladjal Jafaar/Sports Inc/empics/picture alliance
Mauritania received a good eleven million US dollars from the development fund of the world football association FIFA and used it cleverly. The association’s headquarters were rebuilt and the “Sheikh Buyidah Stadium” in Nouakchott was also renovated, which now offers excellent training and playing opportunities.
In addition, Mauritania has been working on targeted promotion of young talent for several years, also co-financed from a FIFA fund. Mauritania has been a player in the FIFA school football project since 2019. We receive support to hold regular school tournaments in rural areas.
Interesting strikers from France and Belgium
The fact that rapid success was achieved in top-level football is more likely due to the appointment of many professionals living abroad who have Mauritanian roots. Seven players from the current squad still play in the domestic league, but the top performers earn their money in France or Belgium.
Aboubakar Kamara, the team’s 28-year-old captain, once played for Fulham FC in England. Since his return to Africa, the attacker has been able to gain a lot of experience at several stations. Next to him, Hemeya Tanjy has impressed in the last few months. The 25-year-old top scorer in the domestic league is a playful striker type, he is always available for short periods of time, takes part in combination play and distributes the ball very well as a “wall player”.
Striker Aboubakary Koita is attracting attention with good performances in the Belgian league at St. TruidenImage: Bruno Fahy/Belga/dpa/picture alliance
In addition to these two, Abdou has found a recently risen star in the football sky in Aboubakary Koita, who could be crucial for Mauritania. The 25-year-old plays for St. Truiden in the Belgian first division and is at the top of the top scorers list with eleven goals.
The fact that he is now running for Mauritania comes almost out of the blue. He could have played for three other countries: Senegal, his mother’s homeland, where he was born. For Belgium, where he grew up, and for Mali, where his father comes from, but who also has Mauritanian roots.
Now he is storming for the Mauritanians at the Africa Cup of Nations and wants to reach the knockout stages. This is what they all dream about in the big, lonely desert state.