MOZ - Mozambique's Nasir Sale aims to revamp team

MAPUTO (AfroBasket Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Mozambique's golden generation reached the highest pinnacle in the country's basketball history after qualifying for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.

However, their days may be numbered.

In September, Mozambique finished second at AfroBasket Women 2013 held in their capital city of Maputo with a team averaging 29.9 years of age.

However, the team's second leading scorer, Clarisse Machanguana, announced her retirement from the national team minutes after Mozambique's 64-61 defeat to Angola in the Final of the tournament.

At the age of 39 (she turned 40 five days after the event) Machanguana averaged 12.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 25 minutes per game. Only Deolinda Ngulela logged more minutes than her.

Ahead of Turkey 2014, head coach Nasir Sale has stressed the need to make some changes and seek new talents.

"It is necessary to revamp the national team," he said.

"We need to make a thorough work with youth teams. We must discover new talents with national team quality.

"We have to introduce new blood into the national team, but we must be careful in order to keep our hegemony," he explained.

If Sale's plan to discover a new generation of players is to be taken seriously, Mozambique will not be short of promising players like Leia Dongue, the 22-year-old who led Mozambique in scoring and rebounding in front of thousands of fans in Maputo.

The youngest player in Mozambique's squad, Dongue was named to the All-Tournament Team.

For Sale, Mozambique would need four months of preparation before they make their debut in the FIBA World Championship for Women in September next year.

Both Angola and Mozambique will represent Africa for the first time in their history at the FIBA World Championship for Women.

Sale knows well what it takes to play on the world stage after leading Mozambique at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in Ankara, Turkey.

"I am aware that we are going to participate in a tournament far from our reality, but we won't throw in the towel. We will have the same determination we had in Maputo and try to improve it," he warned.

"We will play to dignify ours and African basketball."

For Mozambique to succeed at Turkey 2014, Sale says, they must keep their feet on the ground.

"We must not inflate for our qualification to the world championship. We still have a hard and long year to prepare adequately," he pointed out.

FIBA