Niger coach Harouna Doula has bemoaned his side’s heavy 5-0 loss to hosts Algeria in the first semi-final at the ongoing TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2022 at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium, Oran in Algeria on Tuesday.
Doula’s outfit had not conceded a goal going into this fixture but a coaching masterclass from his counterpart Madjid Bougherra saw them outplayed on Tuesday night.
“Following such a loss, all I can say is that nothing worked today. We were unable to recover the ball. It is not understandable to lose so many passes. We had so much respect for the Algerian team. We have learnt so many lessons,” Doula said in a disappointed manner to the media in the post-match press conference.
He continued, “We did not try hard enough but maybe we were not strong-willed enough to play this game. If we had started with a physical presence, we could have had a chance. All the best to Algeria and hope they win their next game.
There was some pressure but I do not think that that is why we lost. Pressure is not something that will lead to this. Some players who can play 90 or even 120 minutes were not physically up for the task so I made early substitutions [Ousseini Badamassi for Faysal Abdoulaye while Moussa Kassa Moudou replaced Bilyamine Moussa]. We shall review what happened during the game. The fans might have played a role.”
Niger played three games in preparation for this tournament and Doula admitted that he initially thought that that would have helped them in this game.
“This is the fourth time we are playing Algeria. We lost 2-0 in Tunisia and prior to that twice here in Algeria. I thought we would win the next game between us and this game would have been the perfect moment so that we make them make mistakes and explore them but we fell short today,” Doula explained.
He further added that, “Reaching this far in the tournament is a success for us as a team. I would have loved to prepare for the final but now, instead we shall prepare to play the third-place playoff on Friday. This loss is not the end of the journey. We have to keep fighting harder. We cannot start pointing fingers at anyone. We shall try to continue encouraging the players to believe in themselves in the competition.”
Niger will face the loser between Senegal and Madagascar for a place on the podium at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran on February 3.
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