Finally, the sweet knowledge of victory. On the 17th attempt, Mozambique managed to win a game in the CAN. In the second round of Group F, the team led by Chiquinho Conde beat Gabon, 3-2, and took an important step towards the round of 16.
In a first half controlled by Mozambique, Geny Catamo threatened in the 17th minute, but the opening goal only arrived 20 minutes later. After a corner taken by the Sporting player, Faisal Bangal appeared in the heart of the area to head the ball home for 1-0.
Five minutes later, 2-0. Once again Geny Catamo was in the spotlight, this time successfully covering a penalty that doubled the Mozambican advantage.
Even before the break, Gabon reacted through their biggest star. In the last play of the first half, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reduced the deficit (45+5′).
The goal did not discourage Mozambique, who started better and once again left the Gabonese two goals ahead. Witi, from Nacional, worked well on the right and crossed to Diogo Calila, Santa Clara’s defender, who, with a great header, scored the Mambas’ third goal.
However, the game was far from resolved. After the third goal, Mozambique retreated and allowed Gabon to create several dangerous situations. Ernan Siluane still shone on several occasions, but was unable to do anything when Alex Moucketou-Moussounda returned a shot saved by the Mozambican goalkeeper into the back of the net (76′).
Until the final whistle, Mozambique practically gave up attacking – in the middle, there was a goal disallowed to Geny for offside (90+2′) – and concentrated all their energy on defending their slim advantage. Nervousness took over the players, the technical team and the fans, but the suffering ended up giving way to celebration when Mehrez Malki whistled for the end of the match. With this triumph, Mozambique now has three points and will discuss qualifying for the round of 16 in the last round, against Cameroon.
