TEAM PROFILE: Can Mozambique move from being contenders to AfroBasket champions?
Mozambique's women's team has always been among the strong nations in African basketball, while they have shown their pedigree, they have also fallen short at the final hurdle. Can this year be different?
MAPUTO (Mozambique) - Mozambique's women's team has always been among the strong nations in African basketball. While they have shown their pedigree, they have also fallen short at the final hurdle. Can this year be different?
With the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket in Rwanda (28 July - 5 August) around the corner, and knowing what their team is capable of, fans of the Southern African country have every reason to be excited about their team's chances at the tournament.
The 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket will take place at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda between July 28 to August 6.
Mozambique finished second at 2013 Women's AfroBasket in Maputo
FIBA.basketball gives insights into Mozambique's potential ahead of the AfroBasket.
Team: Mozambique
Ranking: 43rd in the world and 5th in Africa
Last participation in Women's AfroBasket: 2021
Best result at the AfroBasket: Mozambique have, on three occasions, finished second in the tournament; this was in 2013, 2003 and 1986.
How they qualified for the AfroBasket: Mozambique qualified for the tournament after beating opponents Angola (72-52; 74-73), Zambia (87-51; 103-44), and Zimbabwe (95-43; 86-38) in FIBA Africa Zone 6 qualifiers in February.
Africa: Mozambique are among the top-tier nations in the women's game on the continent. Apart from being a top-five nation in continental basketball, one of Mozambique's grandest achievements was qualifying for the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Turkey.
They have also never finished outside the top six in the AfroBasket, which is a testament to their consistency.
2023 AfroBasket Group: Mozambique are in Group B along with Cameroon and Guinea.
Star Players: Leia Dongue has unquestionably been Mozambique's best player over the last decade. If available for this year's Women's AfroBasket, Dongue will make her fifth appearance in the tournament at the age of 32. She sat out two editions of the tournament (2015 and 2021), both held in Yaounde.
Leia Dongue
One of the few Mozambique foreign-based players - alongside Tamara Seda, Chanaya Pinto and Delma Zhita - Dongue has been named every Women's AfroBasket All-Start team that she participate in (2013, 2017 and 2019).
Except for the African Championship, Dongue - who spent years playing for Angolan side Primeiro de Agosto before settling in Europe five years ago - won several FIBA Africa Women's Champions Cups titles with De Agosto and now extinct Liga Desportiva (Mozambique).
Another key player for Mozambique is Ingvild Mucauro. A two-time continental champion at the club level with Ferroviario de Maputo.
New addition: Shelsea Rafael has experience at the international level within Mozambique's youth teams. The forward got a taste of senior competition during the Zone VI qualifiers and averaged 5.2 points and 4.3 rebounds.
The 24-year-old played was part of the Costa do Sol team that lost in the final of the 2022 FIBA African Champions Cup to Egypt's Alexandria Sporting Club. With the amount of exposure she has had to high-level competition, Rafael can only get better.
Coach: Carlos Aik was appointed earlier in the year to the coaching position. He led Ferroviario de Maputo to the 2019 FIBA African Champions Cup Women and qualified the team for this year's Women's AfroBasket, so Aik comes to the job with good credentials.
Carlos Aik
Outlook: With a good coach and solid core of veteran players like Dongue, Seda, Mucauro, and Anabela Cossa, who have won championships at the continental level, Mozambique can be counted among the contenders for the AfroBasket title.
FIBA