Mauritania coach says SA weak

MAURITANIA coach Corentin Martins described South Africa as weak as his country celebrated their most famous footballing victory and looked ahead with confidence to becoming more competitive in the international arena.

The 3-1 win for “Les Mourabitounes” over Bafana Bafana in Nouakchott on Saturday prompted the north African country’s French-born coach to ask the Mauritanian media: “Is what it was that South Africa were weak, or is it that Mauritania have made progress?”

“Frankly, it was little of both. The South Africans were determined to keep the ball but lack depth in their game plan. That is what we used to our advantage,” he said.

Mauritania, traditionally one of the minnows of the African game, last won either an African Nations Cup or World Cup qualifier in 2007, at home to Burundi.

“We were drawn into a solid group and my objective in this first round of qualifying for the 2017 Nations Cup was to glean at least one point from the first three matches,” Martins said.

“We find at a much higher level Cameroon and Bafana Bafana, who are two big football nations. We came essentially to learn, so to beat Bafana fills us with joy.

“For now, we will relish our joy. Frankly, it’s hard to say whether we expected [to achieve] such a feat or not,” the former French international said.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s next opponents, Angola, were held to a goalless draw on Sunday in Madagascar in their Nations Cup qualifier to move to four points and top place in their group.

South Africa and Angola meet over two legs at the start of the World Cup qualification for Russia 2018 in November.