Despite still being locked in the dreamland of winning their first Africa Cup of Nations game, Tanzania coach Miguel Gamondi expressed a bit of satisfaction about his team’s performance during the 2-1 defeat against Nigeria on Tuesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Gamondi, who took over about a month before the 2025 AFCON, managed the country’s 10th game at the tournament, but they are still searching for their first win.
After Semilogo Ajayi had given Nigeria a first-half lead, Charles M’Mombwa struck the equaliser for Tanzania in the 50th minute, but their hopes of overturning the result faded almost immediately as Ademola Lookman struck the match-winner for Nigeria.
Tanzania pushed for a late equaliser and came close in the closing minutes when Ibrahim Hamad volleyed wide from a corner, but the Super Eagles held firm to see out the victory.
Despite the defeat, Gamondi hailed his players for surpassing expectations against Nigeria.
“I think Tanzania played better than many people expected. Nigeria had a lot of possession, but we neutralised them well through our tactical system,” the Argentine coach said after the game.
“They did create chances, but most of them came from individual quality, which is not surprising. Overall, I believe we surprised a lot of people with the quality of our performance against Nigeria.”
The Taifa Stars will now regroup and hope to make their dreams come true against regional rivals Uganda on Saturday, before ending their group stage campaign against Tunisia next Tuesday.
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