"You start every season expecting to win every match, every trophy. "When you are at a big club like PSG, there is a different mentality," the 26-year-old said. We know it will be a tough match but we can do the job and reach the quarter-finals."īa is a player with plenty of self-belief, which he credits to his time developing at PSG with the likes of Chelsea and France striker Christopher Nkunku. "They play amazing football and have scored some great goals. "It's not a big team or a big country like Senegal, Algeria or Ivory Coast but they have done such a good job," Ba says of their last-16 opponents. The Blue Sharks provided one of the stories of a hugely entertaining group stage in Ivory Coast, winning Group B ahead of former winners Ghana and record seven-time champions Egypt. When I play for Mauritania all of my team-mates feel like brothers - but to have my actual brother next to me is something very special that I cannot explain."Ĭape Verde have been a great example to Africa's smaller nations, reaching the quarter-finals on their tournament debut in 2013 and the last 16 at the 2021 edition. "It was a proud moment when we first played together for Mauritania and our father was in the stadium. To be honest, it does help me stay focused. "He is my older brother, so of course he likes to give me instructions. "When I do good things on the pitch I never hear from him - but any small mistake, he will let me know about it," Ba laughs. For sure, this is a very good coach."įor Ba, the experience of reaching the last 16 was especially emotional as he was sharing the pitch with his older brother El Hadji. "He showed what he can do before with Comoros. We want to give our all for him and he is very clear about the idea of how he wants to play - it is up to us to follow this. "He is a leader who makes his players believe, like Jose Mourinho. "Our coach is really a man of the people," Ba, who plays his club football in Croatia, explains. The Frenchman has repeated the trick with the team ranked 105th in the world and Ba says the squad are enjoying being guided by Abdou. "We enjoyed this moment but in this competition you cannot spend time thinking about the result - we are already focused on the next game and are working towards passing through the next round." Also, a lot of Mauritanians live in Ivory Coast and it has been great to see them here. "We received a lot of good videos and messages on social media - I'm sorry I can't reply to everyone. "It is amazing for us to reach the next round for the first time, a great feeling for the team to know we have made the people of Mauritania happy," centre-back Lamine Ba told BBC Sport Africa. Mauritania had seemed down and out after narrow defeats by Burkina Faso and Angola, but a knockout match with Cape Verde now awaits at Abidjan's Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium on Monday (17:00 GMT). The Lions of Chinguetti's first ever Afcon win, achieved at the ninth attempt, ensured that the north-west African nation will make their debut in the last 16. The victory was as significant for Mauritania as it was for Algeria. Mauritania were responsible for one of the biggest of those shocks when their 1-0 win against two-time champions Algeria in the final game of Group D eliminated Les Verts. The beautiful unpredictability of the Africa Cup of Nations has been on full display at this year's tournament with upsets galore and several high-profile early exits.
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