Football: 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier |08 October 2015

Marie puts in sturdy performance as Seychelles lose to Burundi

Seychelles’ game against Burundi at Stad Linite yesterday saw Ralph Jean-Louis back in the dugout in his first game back as head coach since that famous Indian Ocean Island Games gold medal win four years ago, but it was a man on the pitch who stole the show.

Côte d’Or’s Benoit Marie put in a massive performance in defence in yesterday’s 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying match against Burundi despite Seychelles losing 0-1.

Marie was often left as the last line of defence in front of goalkeeper and captain Vincent Euphrasie and he executed his job to near perfection as he thwarted everything that came into his path. He was arguably one of Seychelles’ best players in yesterday’s match.

Seychelles took a while to get into the game played but drew first blood when Gervais Waye-Hive’s low free kick forced a great save from Burundi’s Mac Arthur Arakaza after 12 minutes of play.

Burundi’s winner came soon after Seychelles’ right-back Jude Nancy allowed his man to get past him and send the ball into the penalty area where Papy Faty’s shot was parried by Euphrasie and Fiston Abdoul was quicker to react to send the ball into the net to give his team a vital away goal.

Seychelles should have levelled matters in the 75th minute as substitute Rennick Esther was put through by Karl Hall. After his initial shot was blocked and the goalkeeper beaten, Esther failed to hit the target as his effort hit the post and the ball rolled across the face of goal much to his dismay.

In stoppage time, Dean Suzette beat his marker but his shot from a tight angle went just wide.

Burundi also had a number of opportunities to hit Seychelles on the counter-attack, but it was Marie who kept reading the game well to intervene.

After the match, coach Jean-Louis told Sport Nation that he was satisfied with the result considering the little time the team had to train together before the game.

“The result is acceptable as we had only joined up on Sunday and had a few key defenders missing, but the team were very combative and although we are disappointed with the loss, it is a result that I feel we will be able to overcome,” he said.

Jean-Louis added that the players have been playing a lot of matches lately and that might have caused fatigue to be an issue. He also stated that the team still have an opportunity to qualify and should the need be, he could call up some other players to reinforce the team as they head off to Burundi for the return leg that will played next Tuesday.

As for Burundi coach Ahcene Ait Abdelmalek he said he knew what to expect of Seychelles after the team’s 1-1 draw with Ethiopia and they made sure they got a good result.

He added that with the players on the Seychelles team, the second leg will be an interesting match.

S. N.