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LOSING TO SIHLANGU WAS A MISTAKE – DJIBOUTI COACH

04/09/2019 00:57:00 BY NTOKOZO MAGONGO

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MBABANE – Djibouti French coach Julien Mette is inspired by Madagascar success ahead of the Sihlangu clash this evening in the first leg of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match.

Mette, who was appointed head coach of the North Africa Country in February, led his side to a 1-0 victory over Somalia in July. Sihlangu holds a record of the biggest win against Djibouti in 2015, 8-1 aggregate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

“It is important to motivate the players, because it is going to hurt their pride. Djibouti’s supporters remember that result very well, so we have some history to rectify. I’d almost like to say that it is not important. Before talking about qualification against Eswatini it is about reproducing what we did in Ethiopia (in African Nations Championship - CHAN - qualifiers) so that our fans at home in Djibouti can see what their players are capable of, so improving strongly. We lost, so there are things to improve. It is about winning of course, but what do you do to win? You improve,” he told bbc.com.

Illusions

The coach said he was under no illusions about the task ahead of him in charge of Djibouti but is taking inspiration from the recent feats of Madagascar, who reached the 2019 AFCON in Egypt for the first time.

“It is the second division of African football. Djiboutian clubs often don’t participate in CAF (continental) competitions, be it the Confederation Cup or the Champions League.

ou need a big club, like a locomotive, that can target the qualifiers of the Champions League to help the domestic league. The Djiboutian league, the players can make 10 or 15 mistakes and you won’t concede, because the opponent is not that strong. By playing only in the local league, there is lack of rigor,” he added. Mette said he would focus on the tactical development of his players when Djibouti returns to the international fray after a two-year absence with the Sihlangu game tonight.

Mette, like his players, is a novice at the international level, but to address his own shortcomings he liaised with former Kenya coach Sébastien Migné and Raja Casablanca coach Patrice Carteron, listening to their experiences and exchanging ideas. Another compatriot Nicolas Dupuis however offers the biggest source of inspiration for Mette and Djibouti after he guided debutants Madagascar to the last 16 of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

“Madagascar was an outsider of which everyone thought that they would be the whipping boys at the Africa Cup of Nations. They were the least storied team in the tournament. Repeat what they did? It is an objective, but in the long-term.

In terms of population Madagascar is huge in comparison to Djibouti and they have got a lot of expatriates as well. Djibouti played with zero expatriates, so it will take a lot of things to get the same conditions as Madagascar, but what they achieved is something that we have followed and it is an example for us.