Mozambique won’t sell out to Tunisia, says coach

Mambas of Mozambique coach, Mart Nooij has dismissed insinuations that his team will throw away their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Tunisia.

The Mambas have no chance of making it to next year’s World Cup but will make it to the Angola 2010 African Cup of Nations if they remain in the third position they currently occupy at the end of their November 14 encounter against the Tunisians in Maputo.

A win over the Tunisians will guarantee qualification for the Mambas, who have accumulated four points thus far in Group B, irrespective of the final outcome of encounter between the fourth-placed Harambee Stars and the Super Eagles in Nairobi. A draw will also be good enough to ensure a first Nations Cup appearance since Burkina Faso ‘98 for the Mambas but only if the Kenyans, who are a point behind them, fail to defeat the Super Eagles.

With only the group’s winner guaranteed a place at next year’s World Cup in South Africa, the Super Eagles, who lie two points behind the Tunisians in second place, need a win in Nairobi against a Kenyan side they have never lost to but desperate to go to the Nations Cup while hoping that results go their way in Maputo.

Baseless concern

Fears have however been expressed by football fans in Nigeria that the Mozambicans could deliberately sell-out to the Tunisians but Nooij is shocked that such an idea could even arise in spite of what has been seen of his side in the qualifiers.

“That is completely against my principles,” retorted Nooij when asked whether he plans on yielding without a fight to the Tunisians in Maputo.

“I believe in fair play and I always insist that my team plays well all the time. That is how we have played since I came here in 2007 and we want to keep improving because I believe at the rate at which we’re going we can surprise many people in Angola.”

Home advantage

No team has had an easy time against the Mambas in the 2010 qualifiers especially at their fortress, the 45,000-seater Estadio Nacional da Machava, in Maputo, which has become a waterloo of sorts for visiting sides.

Top African sides like Cote d’Ivoire and the Super Eagles each struggled to escape with a draw from Maputo, and the Dutchman, who attributes this to their enthusiastic home crowd, insists it will be tough for the Tunisians to do likewise on November 14.

“Nobody likes to play against us in Maputo because they all know that when they come down here they are in for a very tough time,” he continued. “But that is not enough for us because we want Africans to know what Mozambique can do.

“Like I said earlier, there are no brothers in football, especially in international football. Every country has to fight for its own interest and we will not be doing Tunisia any favours here and my philosophy has never changed. It can never change because I always play to win.”