Upstarts Mauritania seek to raise their international profile at Bafana's expense
Mauritania’s victory over Bafana Bafana almost 12 months to the day last year was the biggest in the country’s footballing history and catapulted the arid Saharan country from the ranks of African football minnows to an increasing contingent of national teams that need to be taken much more seriously.Mauritania went up 25 places in the FIFA rankings in a single month last year after the 3-1 victory over a hapless Bafana at Nouakchott and continue to climb to the cusp of a place in the top 100.“We scored two goals in the last 15 minutes‚ after conceding an equaliser. This match has changed something. We can talk about it as a reference match‚" explained coach Corentin Martins‚ a former French international.Mauritania have not been ranked among world football’s top 100 nations for 22 years after a brief run to 85th place in 1995‚ which remains their highest ever ranking. But beating South Africa proved more than just a pivotal shift for Mauritania – it also led to some unrealistic expectations.It meant that the country‚ who before had won just a handful of competitive matches‚ suddenly was expected to win the group and qualify for a first-ever Africa Cup of Nations finals."The expectations were enormous in Mauritania. There was suddenly talk of topping the group‚ beating Cameroon‚” added Martins.That burden sat heavily on the shoulders of the team‚ who beat Gambia in a group qualifier in March‚ but lost twice to Cameroon and have only the remotest mathematical chance of going to Gabon in January as one of he best placed runners-up. Mauritania also did not get into the group phase of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers‚ beaten both home and away in a play-off game by Tunisia.The disappointment means that Martins‚ architect of the sudden emergence of Mauritania‚ likely takes charge of his last game when his side play Bafana at the Mbombela stadium on Friday night.His contract is at an end and there have been no signs that the federation wants to offer him a new deal.Their only realistic salvation is to do the double over Bafana‚ something seen as high unlikely even if Mauritania so far hold a winning record over South Africa. - TMG Digital..
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