Mozambique national football team

Mozambique

Nickname(s)	The Black Mambas
Association	Mozambique Football Federation
Sub-confederation	COSAFA (Southern Africa)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Gert Engels
Captain	Dário
Top scorer	Tico-Tico (at least 23)[1]
Home stadium	Estádio da Machava
FIFA code	MOZ
FIFA ranking	110
Highest FIFA ranking	66 (November 1996)
Lowest FIFA ranking	134 (July 2005)
Elo ranking	123
Highest Elo ranking	85 (September 1985)
Lowest Elo ranking	147 (July 2000)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Mozambique 1–2 Tanzania  (Mozambique; 12 December 1977)
Biggest win
Mozambique 6–1 Lesotho  (Mozambique; 10 August 1980)
Biggest defeat
Zimbabwe 6–0 Mozambique (Salisbury, Zimbabwe; 20 April 1980)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	4 (First in 1986)
Best result	Round 1 all

The Mozambique national football team (Portuguese: Moçambique equipa nacional de futebol), popularly known as The Black Mambas, represents Mozambique in association football and is controlled by the Federação Moçambicana de Futebol, the governing body for football in Mozambique. Mozambique have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, but they have qualified for four Africa Cup of Nations in 1986, 1996, 1998 and most recently the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, being eliminated in the first round in all four. Mozambique are currently ranked 106th in the FIFA World Rankings, with their highest ever ranking of 66th in November 1996.

Mozambique's home ground is Estádio da Machava in the capital city Maputo, and can hold 45,000 spectators. The team's current head coach is Mart Nooij, who has been in charge since 2007.

History

First game

Mozambique played its first match against Tanzania in 1977, losing the match 2–1. They first qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 1986, but were knocked out in the first round. Mozambique never qualified for another 10 years until 1996. Again being knocked out in the first round of the tournament.

1986 African Nations Cup

Mozambique qualifed for its first Africa Cup of Nations in 1986, held in Egypt, beating Mauritius 3–0 in the preliminary round. In the first round of qualifying, Mozambique played Malawi, drawing both legs of the match, they eventually won 6–5 on penalties. In the second round of qualifying they played Libya, losing the first leg 2–1. They won the second leg 2–1 and then went on to win the match 4–3 on penalties, Qualifying for the tournament.

Mozambique were placed in Group A along with Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and hosts Egypt. They lost all their games 3–0, 2–0 and 2–0, not scoring a single goal. Egypt went on to win the tournament on home soil.

1996 African Cup of Nations

Mozambique had to wait 10 years to qualufy for another Africa Cup of Nations, as they qualified for the 1996 tournament in South Africa. They were placed in Group D along with Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Tunisia. Mozambique played their first game against Tunisia in Port Elizabeth, drawing 1–1 with Tico-Tico scoring in the 4th minute. They then went on to lose 1–0 to Côte d'Ivoire and 2–0 to Ghana, thus eliminating them from the tournament.

1998 African Cup of Nations

Two years later, Mozambique qualified for their third Africa Cup of Nations held in Burkina Faso. They were again placed in group D along with Morocco, Egypt and Zambia. Mozambique lost their first game against eventual tournament winners Egypt 2–0, both goals coming from Hossam Hassan. In their second game they again lost to Morroco 3–0, therefore eliminating them from the tournament with one game still remaining. In their last game against Zambia, they drew 1–1, their first goal of the tournament. This would prove to be their last African Cup of Nations game for 12 years.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mozambique entered the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in the second round, and were placed in Group 7 with Botswana, Madagascar and African football giants Côte d'Ivoire. They made a terrible start to qualifying, losing to Côte d'Ivoire and minnows Botswana 1–0 and 2–1, and drawing 1–1 with Madagascar. Mozambique then went on to beat Madagascar 3–0 in Antananarivo with goals coming from Tico-Tico, Carlitos and Domingues. They then drew 1–1 with Côte d'Ivoire and beat Botswana 1–0 in Gaborone to qualify for the third Round.

Mozambique were one of the lowest seeded teams in the third round, and were placed in Group B with Nigeria, Tunisia and Kenya. They went on to draw their first game against giants Nigeria 0–0 in Maputo. They then went on to lose their next to games against Tunisia and Kenya 2–0 and 2–1, now making it a struggle to qualify for their first FIFA World Cup. In the next game, they beat Kenya 1–0 with Tico-Tico scoring, but then a loss to Nigeria eliminated them from qualifying. In the last game they beat Tunisia 1–0 in a surprising victory that stopped Tunisia from qualifying. Despite not qualifying for the World Cup they still qualified for the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.

2010 African Cup of Nations

After a 12 year absence from African Cup of Nations football, Mozambique were placed in Group C with Egypt, Nigeria and Benin. In their first game, they played Benin Benguela drawing 2–2 after being 2–0 down, with goals coming from Miro and Fumo. They then went on to lose 2–0 to eventual tournament winners Egypt and 3–0 to Nigeria, thus eliminating them from the tournament. After the tournament, all time top scorer and captain Tico-Tico retired from international football.

2012 African Cup of Nations

Mozambique were drawn in Group C for 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying along with Libya, Zambia and Comoros. They drew 0–0 with Libya in their first game, then going on to beat Comoros 1–0. But, then a 2–0 and 3–0 loss to Zambia meams The Black Mambas are unlikely to qualify.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Zambia	4	3	0	1	9	1	+8	9
Libya	4	2	2	0	5	1	+4	8
Mozambique	4	1	1	2	1	5	−4	4
Comoros	4	0	1	3	1	9	−8	1

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1978	Did not enter
1982	Did not qualify
1986	Did not enter
1990	Entry rejected
1994 to 2010	Did not qualify
Total	0/18		0	0	0	0	0	0

African Nations Cup record

African Cup of Nations
Titles: 0 Appearances: 4
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1957	Did not enter		1976	Did not enter		1994	Did not qualify
1959	Did not enter		1978	Did not enter		1996	Round 1
1962	Did not enter		1980	Did not enter		1998	Round 1
1963	Did not enter		1982	Did not qualify		2000	Did not qualify
1965	Did not enter		1984	Did not qualify		2002	Did not qualify
1968	Did not enter		1986	Round 1		2004	Did not qualify
1970	Did not enter		1988	Did not qualify		2006	Did not qualify
1972	Did not enter		1990	Did not qualify		2008	Did not qualify
1974	Did not enter		1992	Did not qualify		2010	Round 1
						2012	Did not qualify

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game against Zambia on 4 June 2011.

Caps and goals correct as of 22 July 2011.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club GK João Kapango 14 September 1975 (1975-09-14) (age 36) 36 0 Tersana GK Bino 21 April 1982 (1982-04-21) (age 29) 6 0 Liga Muçulmana DF Miro 30 April 1982 (1982-04-30) (age 29) 35 5 Platinum Stars DF Paíto 5 July 1982 (1982-07-05) (age 29) 32 0 Neuchâtel Xamax DF Mano 28 April 1984 (1984-04-28) (age 27) 29 0 ENPPI DF Dário Khan 24 January 1984 (1984-01-24) (age 27) 27 0 Liga Muçulmana DF Whiskey 6 May 1986 (1986-05-06) (age 25) 18 0 Ferroviário Maputo DF Zainadine Júnior 24 June 1988 (1988-06-24) (age 23) 8 0 Desportivo de Maputo MF Domingues 13 November 1983 (1983-11-13) (age 28) 37 5 Mamelodi Sundowns MF Genito 3 March 1979 (1979-03-03) (age 32) 33 1 Sektzia Nes Tziona MF Hagi 29 May 1985 (1985-05-29) (age 26) 29 2 Atlético Muçulmano MF Simão 23 July 1988 (1988-07-23) (age 23) 27 0 Panathinaikos MF Jumisse 6 June 1984 (1984-06-06) (age 27) 4 0 Portimonense MF Nelsinho 2 July 1987 (1987-07-02) (age 24) 2 0 Atlético Muçulmano FW Dário 27 February 1977 (1977-02-27) (age 34) 88 21 3 de Febrero FW Fumo 22 September 1979 (1979-09-22) (age 32) 27 2 Akritas Chlorakas FW Jerry 21 October 1989 (1989-10-21) (age 22) 11 2 Académica FW Hélder Pelembe 20 September 1987 (1987-09-20) (age 24) 9 0 Maxaquene

References

1. ^ Földesi, László. "Manuel José Luis "Tico-Tico" Bucuane - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/ticotico-intlg.html. Retrieved 2011-10-08. 

External links

• Federação Moçambicana de Futebol official site (in Portuguese).
• Mozambique at the FIFA website.
• Mozambique at CAF Online