Guinea coach Paulo Duarte skips pre-match media conference before South Africa qualifier

Guinea coach Paulo Duarte missed his mandatory pre-match press conference on Friday, adding an early element of tension to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Bafana Bafana.

Guinea’s third assistant coach Mamadouba Sylla and midfielder Mory Konate instead spoke to the media at Orlando Stadium ahead of the match.

Duarte and Guinea are likely to face a charge from Caf for breaching media protocols.

The team’s translator said he had attempted to persuade Duarte to attend the briefing, but the coach was unwilling to leave the training session. Duarte was later seen on the pitch with his players.

“There is no valid reason, he didn’t want to come. He wanted to focus on their training session. I tried to convince him to come to the press conference but he didn’t want to come,” the translator said.

Konate said Guinea were looking forward to the fixture and had studied South Africa, who qualified for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

“They have a good idea on Bafana because they played at the 2026 Fifa World Cup and they had enough time to analyse the team. They have a new coach but they are exactly the same team,” the translator said, relaying Konate’s comments.

“They are ready for the game, they know the style of South Africa and how they play.”