While Ivory Coast's array of European-based players are pampered in a luxury out-of-town hotel with private beach and golf course, Sudan are in a kitsch three-star establishment with low ceilings, mock chandeliers and dark corridors, located on a noisy roundabout.
Yet Sudan's little-known players were anything but outclassed when the sides met in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, unluckily losing 1-0 in a game they could easily have drawn.
"It doesn't encourage the players to go abroad," he told Reuters in the hotel lobby, with a Spanish-dubbed John Wayne film blaring on the television in the corner.
"They are better off at home than maybe they would be abroad where they might have to fight to get into the team and would not be so well-known."
"Among my squad, there are 16 totally new players who have not played in the finals," he said.
"One of our objectives is to show our players and get them onto the market. If they perform well here, that could give the chances to play professionally in Europe."
"The natural talent is still there," said Abdallah, a defensive midfielder who captained the team in the 1970s. "We need to set up some academies to develop it better."
"The coach has more time with the players, than when they just come for the official FIFA dates and the ambition is higher."
