DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 15 -- MAURITANIA head coach Garay Lopez praised his sides resilience and character after a 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Wednesday. The results keep their hopes alive for a quarter-final appearance.

The hard-fought win came courtesy of a first-half penalty and marks Mauritanias second consecutive victory in the tournament, a feat never before achieved by the nation at this level.

“Our team showed a lot of character from the start of the match,” Lopez said during the post-match press conference. “We are happy, we played well, we controlled the game, and we managed to score from a penalty kick. The first half of the match was fantastic.

We defended well and played bet...