Benin's Mounie records hat-trick in AFCON warm-up match
Huddersfield Town's Steve Mounie scored a hat-trick as Benin completed their Africa Cup of Nations preparations with a 3-1 win over fellow finalists Mauritania on Tuesday.
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Mounie, who only managed two goals last season for Huddersfield as they were relegated from the Premier League, gave Benin a 1-0 lead at half-time and scored twice more after the break.
Benin were at the 2004, 2008 and 2010 Nations Cups but lost eight of their nine group matches, and coach Michel Dussuyer is keeping expectations low.
"Step number one is to win a match. Benin has never achieved this before in the finals," Dussuyer told reporters after completing their pre-tournament preparations in Morocco.
"Step number two is to qualify to the round of 16, and goal number three is to come home as late as possible."
Benin are in Group F in Egypt and open their campaign against Ghana in Ismailia next Tuesday.
They also face holders Cameroon and fellow outsiders Guinea Bissau.
"It's exciting to confront big nations like that. It is also exciting to participate in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. So there is no apprehension," Dussuyer added.
"There's just the desire to have good matches against these teams, to create problems for them and to have positive results that would allow us to achieve the goals. That will come from the work we have done and also our state of mind.
"We know we do not have the strength of Cameroon or Ghana but we know are able to compete with big teams," he said.