Soccer-Mauritania name new coach two months before Cup of Nations finals

Frenchman Didier Gomes Da Rosa has been named as the new coach of Mauritania ahead of the African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon in January, the country’s football federation announced on Friday.

Frenchman Didier Gomes Da Rosa has been named as the new coach of Mauritania ahead of the African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon in January, the country’s football federation announced on Friday. Gomes Da Rosa coached amateur clubs in France before a journeyman career over the last nine years in Africa, where he has coached clubs in Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania.

This is his first national team appointment. The 52-year-old takes over from former France international Corentin Martins, who had been in the post for seven years and taken the country, against expectations, to the Cup of Nations finals for the first time in 2019.

Despite steering Mauritania to a second successive tournament in March, Martins was fired in October after poor results in World Cup qualifiers. Gomes Da Rosa will first take charge of Mauritania at the Arab Cup in Qatar, starting on Nov. 30, which is serving as a test event for next year’s World Cup.

At the Cup of Nations finals, which runs from Jan. 9-Feb. 6, Mauritania are in Group F, along with Gambia, Mali and Tunisia. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)