The Mozambicans are the first to arrive in Algiers for the 7th edition of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship.
The delegation of Mozambique arrived in the Algerian capital on Friday, 30 December 2022 for the CHAN 2022 scheduled to take place in Algeria from January 13 to February 4, 2023.
Drawn in Group A, Mozambique will play at the Baraki stadium and will face hosts Algeria, Libya and Ethiopia.
Coach Chiquinho Conde and the Mambas will carry out a final training session in Algiers, before tackling the final phase of this edition, on Saturday 14 January against Ethiopia at the Baraki stadium.
This justifies the early arrival of Mozambique in Algeria. 16 other nations are expected in the coming days in the four host cities of the tournament: Algiers, Oran, Constantine and Annaba.
Mozambique, who are making their second appearance after a first-round exit at the 2014 edition in South Africa, were welcomed on arrival at Algiers’ Houari-Boumediene International Airport by Local Organising Committee (LOC) president Rachid Oukali, LOC vice-president Yacine Benhamza, and Federal Bureau member Hakim Medane.
For their second participation, the Mambas have already started to make a name for themselves in the CHAN qualifiers. The Mozambicans, led by Chiquinho Conde, a former striker of the Os Mambas with three CAF Africa Cup of Nations participation (1986, 1996, 1998), have succeeded in qualifying for the CHAN 2022 finals.
The Mambas eliminated Zambia in the first round by an aggregate score of 1-0 to qualify for the final round. The away goal rule worked in their favour as they finished the second round with a 1-1 draw with Malawi.
With Chiquinho Conde now at the helm, Mozambique will be hoping for a better showing in Algeria.
And that will require the likes of Clube Ferroviário de Maputo midfielder Shaquille Nangy, UD Songo right-winger Stelio Ernesto and Costa da Sol defender Danilo Muze.
Mozambique’s group stage will take place from 13 to 22 January 2023. The Mambas will face Ethiopia, Libya and Algeria respectively.
