Mauritania coach Patrice Neveu from France
Despite losing 3-0 to Egypt in a friendly game on Sunday, Mauritania's French coach Patrice Neveu said he had learned a lesson from the defeat.
"Playing against a great team like Egypt was risky, but it was important for the players to undergo such a test,'' Neveu told France Football magazine on Monday.
"I got a good idea from the players after monitoring them in the Mauritanian League, but playing against a great team like Egypt was different. This kind of game was a good occasion for the coach to discover the true capacities of the players after three months of work,'' he added.
Neveu, who made a name for himself in Africa after taking over responsibility for the national teams of both Guinea and DR Congo, was named as Mauritania's coach last January.
Sunday's defeat was the first game for the Mauritanians under the guidance of the Frenchman and the first for the country since 2010 due to the team's three-year suspension by the African Football Confederation for pulling out of the 2012 African Cup of Nations.
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