February 8 – In the latest managerial change in African football, Baciro Cande (pictured) will no longer serve as manager of Guinea Bissau. The country’s football federation confirmed on Wednesday that his contract will not be renewed.
Cande’s contract expires at the end of the month, but his stay won’t be prolonged after Guinea Bissau were the first team to be eliminated from the current Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. In Group A, Guinea Bissau finished bottom after losing all of their three games against the hosts, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.
Nonetheless, Cande’s departure wraps up a successful chapter in the country’s football history. He became something of a national hero because he led Guinea Bissau to four successive qualifications for the Cup of Nations finals, a great uptick in fortunes for one of the minnows of the continent.
Cande is the latest manager to depart after the continental finals. Djamel Belmadi (Algeria), Rui Vitoria (Egypt), Tom Saintfiet (Gambia), Chris Hughton (Ghana), Jean-Louis Gasset (Ivory Coast), Adel Amrouche (Tanzania) and Jalel Kadri (Tunisia) have all exited. The Africa Cup of Nations concludes on Saturday with the final between the hosts and Nigeria.
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