Nigeria coach Eric Chelle stayed super smooth despite coming under fire from a tetchy hack for his team failing to conquer the universe. And there was a shock for fans of Mali and Leicester City.
Chelle-oiled machine
The Mali coach, who shall henceforth be known as Saintfiet Tom, was politesse incarnate when referring to Day 2’s opponents Zambia. Rave about them, did he. But the 52-year-old Belgian appears to have a rival. Before fielding the questions from the assortment of vloggers and frustrated cloggers about the opening Group C game against Tanzania, the Nigeria boss Eric Chelle began his press conference with a flurry of compliments. “I want to say thank you for the welcome we’ve had from the people of Morocco,” said the 48-year-old former Mali international. “I want to say thank you too to the people who work for the organisers and everybody who has been taking care of us.”
Chelle out
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With someone exhibiting such gentility, a question about that person’s job prospects seems a tad gauche. But one hack just couldn’t resist. And yet, Eric Chelle was simply above it all. “Every time. Every time my life is dealing with this thing,” he pined. “Now is not the moment to ask that question,” he upbraided the impertinent journo. “I prefer you to ask the question about the the game, the tournament, the players and our game project. So we stay focused on that.” Spun that way, it’s a fair point.
Pressure cooker
Manuel Gomandi, Eric Chelle’s Tanzania counterpart, doesn’t come in for the same level of aggression. He receives cotton bud questions because nobody expects anything from Tanzania including, it seems, Gomandi. “I’m very realistic,” confessed the 59-year-old Argentine about the Day 3 clash with Nigeria in Group C. “Nigeria maybe have a 99% possibility of winning but you never know. What I can say is I’m sure Nigeria will not be relaxed because always there are surprises in the games.”
Et voilà, surprises
And just a few hours after Manuel Gomandi’s morcel of optimism for his charges, along came the examples. Patson Daka levelled for Zambia in the dying seconds of their Group A game against Mali. The strike may well raise the eyebrows of a fair few fans of Daka’s English second division side Leicester City. The 27-year-old has scored only once for the team since the start of the season.
Odd that
And then Prince Dube gave Zimbabwe the lead over Egypt mid way through the first-half of their opening game in Group B in Agadir. But Omar Marmoush levelled in the 66th minute. And here’s something: Mohamed Salah scored Egypt’s winner in the dying seconds. No? Really?
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