Kadri after the loss to Namibia: I will not hide… I apologize to Tunisians
Tunisia’s coach Jalal El Kadri apologized to the people of his country after a sudden 1-0 loss to Namibia at the beginning of his career in the African Cup of Nations, on Tuesday, and said that he would try to recover quickly after his team’s situation became difficult.
Tunisia received a fatal goal from striker Dion Hutto, losing to Namibia in a bad start in the fifth group competitions, which also includes Mali and South Africa.
This is the first for the Namibia team in ten matches in the Nations Cup.
Al-Qadri said in a press conference: “I apologize to the Tunisian people and bear responsibility for the defeat.”
He added: “In matches like this, when you take a lot of risks and have opportunities that you don’t take, you will not be far from the opponent’s reaction. We accepted a goal at the end of the match that was fatal for us.”
He continued: “We must not hide and bear our responsibility. We are aware of the result and we have put ourselves in a difficult situation, but we will seek a reaction worthy of the reputation of the national team and Tunisian football in the next two matches.”
The Tunisian coach confirmed that he seeks to lead the team to at least reach the semi-finals of the tournament, which he won once in 2004.
On the other hand, Walid Sadi, President of the Algerian Federation, said that his country’s team was unlucky after the draw with Angola because “football is sometimes cruel.”
Algeria, the two-time African champion, gave up its lead to draw 1-1 with Angola in the fourth group of the continental championship.
Algeria’s winless streak in the continental championship has extended to four matches, since it won the title in 2019, after it was eliminated from the last edition of the group stage.
Sadi told the Algerian News Agency: “We would have liked the continental championship to start perfectly, but we faced bad luck.” “Football is tough sometimes, but we have to make amends and win against Burkina Faso.”
He added: “We controlled the ball against Angola from start to finish and we could have returned to the locker room with a better result.” Sadi asked the players to forget the disappointing draw result against Angola, stressing his confidence in overcoming the weak start.
The head of the local federation said: “We have to turn the page on the draw with Angola and look forward to facing Burkina Faso… I am convinced of the players’ ability to recover. It is possible for any team to stumble at the beginning.”
Burkina Faso leads the group with three points after a 1-0 win over Mauritania earlier today. Algeria will play with Burkina Faso on Saturday before Mauritania faces Angola on the same day.
2024-01-17 18:40:13
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