Congo’s head coach Fabrizio Cesana has admitted that their early penalty miss against Senegal in their opening game of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) changed the face of the tie.
Congo were handed a brilliant first half opportunity to break the deadlock, but Alexandre Boukoulou saw his spot kick saved.
“The penalty miss was a decisive opportunity in the match. That had an impact on the psychology of the players and it affected them. But, that is just how football is. Missing a penalty is not the end of the world,” said the coach.
Despite the defeat, the coach remains optimistic that his charges can bounce back and remain in contention for a place in the last eight.
“We have the same chances as other teams. There will be decisive matches to come and this loss does not change anything yet, and we will try to learn the lessons that we have taken. Our chance to qualify will be there to take when we play Somalia in our next match,” the coach added.
He was full of praise for his side despite the loss.
“We did what we could to get a win and we lost because of one chance. We will look at everything we did right and what we did wrong and look to do better when we face Somalia,” said the coach.
Congo and Somalia face off in the next match on Tuesday and another loss will prove detrimental to their bid for a last eight slot.