Ferroviario coach Wedson Nyirenda says Diables Noir were too experienced after suffering their first defeat in the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup, which saw his side exit the competition.
The Mozambique club on Sunday lost 3-0 away to their Congo-Brazzaville hosts in Brazzaville to exit the CAF Confederation Cup in the second round 4-2 on aggregate.
Ferroviario Beira won the first leg in Maputo 2-1 on October 8.
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“We could have buried the qualification in the first leg at home, but due to lack of experience on the high stage, we missed good chances, which could have made big difference in the 2nd leg,” Nyirenda told FARPost.
“The team has only two players who have experience in CAF at this stage. The young boys have really tried to even reach this stage.”
Ferroviario found themselves down as early as the 3rd minute when Domi Massoumou put Diables ahead.
But it took Diables until the 55th minute for the second goal to arrive through Deo Bassing, while Blarin Maloula completed the job in the 83rd minute.
“In 2nd leg here in Brazzaville, Diables Noir showed their experience. And their statement of intent was clear from as early as 3 minutes when they pinned us in our own area and got the first goal,” Nyirenda said.
“The boys struggled to even knit three passes. We didn’t even see the boys do what we planned, which was to suck the opponents and then quickly break out.
“We resorted to long balls due to lack of confidence which destroyed our game plan. And looking at the stature of most of our players, it was practically impossible to play with long balls.”
The loss came after three successive CAF Confederation Cup wins for Ferroviario Beira.
Ferroviario’s campaign began with back-to-back first-round wins over Chadian club AS Sante D’Abache, whom they beat 2-1 away and 1-0 at home in September.
