The duo of Angola and Mauritania will be gunning for the first win in the ongoing Africa Nations Championships when they clash at the Olympique d’Oran on Friday evening.Angola opened their quest to sail to the knockout stages with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Mali earlier in the week and will be seeking to floor Mauritania and have firm control of the group.Mauritania on the other hand, will be seeking to start the campaign on a positive note having not played in the opening round.Ahead of the match, Mauritania head coach, Amir Abdou says the past want count for anything as the team is in Algeria to write history.##NAJAVA_MECA_6962519##In two editions, Mauritania have registered six losses and finished bottom of the groups in 2014 in South Africa and in 2018 in Morocco, but Abdou wants to change this status quo.“These results are in the past now. We want to write a new chapter. We are building a new cycle with these players, and we are learning from our mistakes. We know that this game is a very difficult one for us because Angola is a big team. We respect them a lot, but we are ready for the challenge,” he told CAF Online.His Angolan counterpart Pedro Gonçalves admits that the clash will be a tough one but remained confident of getting the three points.“Our next game is very tough because our opponents Mauritania know that if they lose the game, they are out of the tournament. So, we must be careful, and our attitude must be right,” the tactician was quoted on the CAF website.Okumu registers clean sheet for Gent in BelgiumThe match is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm East African time.The duel will pave the way for the clash pitting Congo and Niger that is set to kick off at 10:00 pm.Congo started the tournament on the wrong footing after losing 1-0 to Cameroon three days ago and will head to the pitch looking to redeem themselves.##NAJAVA_MECA_6962514##Congo head coach Jean Elie Ngoya Obackas is confident that his side will bounce back in the do or die encounter.“We have gone through our mistakes from the first game and worked on the solutions in training. Back home, our people demand positive results and we want to give them that in our next game,” he told CAF Online.The tactician said he had reminded his charges on the importance of mining out positive results.“We did our very best against Cameroon but sometimes, the best is not good enough. I have spoken to my players and told them that I am not here to compliment them but to guide them to become better players. I know that they have a lot of talent, but talent is not enough,” he added.Adebayor likens Tusker midfielder to Yaya ToureNgoya will be up against a familiar face in Niger’s Harouna Doula. The pair studied together at university and spent many sessions learning about coaching in Germany.“I have waited for this moment since 2005 when we were in school together. We used to joke that we wanted to face each other in the final of an African competition but for now, we shall take this game in the group stages. We share the same background as coaches,” he said.CHAN games today Mauritania vs Angola – 7PM EAT Congo vs Niger – 10PM EAT Thursday result Ghana 3-1 SudanAdditional reporting by CAF Online
