Sudan coach Burhan Yousif Tia has admitted that his side's frequent mistakes contributed to their early exit from the 2022 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Algeria.
The Secretarybirds suffered a 3-0 defeat to Madagascar on Monday evening at the Mohamed-Hamlaoui stadium, and leave the competition bottom of Group C, with no point in two games.
"The results were unexpected. We wanted our presence to create a greater impact. Just participating is not enough," Burhan said after the game.
"In this tournament we made many mistakes. We were not in good shape. The defensive system and even the movements of the strikers were not good. All these impacted our performance and led to the defeats.
"Our mistakes were very frequent. There was no mental presence, that caused us everything.
Sudan who has finished third in their two previous participations in the competition (2011 and 2018). They came to Algeria with big ambitions, but unfortunately leave with their worst experience in the history of the competition.
"Our ambitions and goals were very big. We were keen on presenting a good performance in front of the people of Constantine. We must benefit from the lessons of our mistakes and better ourselves in future," Burhan added.
The tactician attributes his side's dismal performance to the absence of some key players, and insufficient preparations in the build up to the competition.
"There was much pressure on our players. There was no concentration. It looks like this tournament was bigger than our players. There were many players that were absent from the preparations and that affected the team. Some didn't turn up in this tournament.
"I insist our training and preparations for this tournament was not the best. We were not able to engage all the players. We wanted it to be more engaging. What happened wasn't our plan."
On his future with the team, Burhan said it is time to do an evaluation of what didn't go well in Constantine.
"I think that my main goal now is to evaluate this experience. When I return to Khartoum, I will write a report on the strengths and weaknesses that led to these results. It will be a comprehensive report of everything," Burhan concluded.
Madagascar's win earns them top spot in the group with six points while Ghana finishes second with three points.
