Football: Airtel Cup semifinals second leg preview |21 September 2016
Who will the finalists be?
St Michel, Anse Reunion, St Louis or La Passe… Who of the four teams will make it to Saturday’s Airtel Cup final?
The answer to this question will be answered this afternoon when the second leg matches of the semifinals will be played at the Amitié stadium and at Stad Linite.
Anse Reunion face a near impossible task after they were comprehensively beaten 5-0 in the ‘home leg’ by St Michel and in the return fixture they need to win by a difference of six goals to book a place into the final.
It might look impossible, but as we all know, at the end of the day, this is football and anything can happen.
Coach Ted Esther said the return of Malagasy captain and key defender Eddy will be a big boost for his side in today’s encounter.
“We know that it will be hard for us to qualify for the final, but we want to go out and produce a good performance and at least grab a win to boost morale in the team,” said former Seychelles international defender Esther.
Goals from Jocelyn, Neil Confiance, Nelson Laurence and Hassan Aly as well as an own goal by Anse Reunion’s Archille Ernesta gave St Michel a 5-0 win on Praslin last weekend and they are firmly in the driver’s seat as they look to book an eight consecutive appearance in the final of the tournament.
St Michel were the losing finalists twice in succession, losing 1-2 and 0-1 to La Passe in 2014 and 2015, and will be looking to get back to the summit this year and after the emphatic win over Anse Reunion, this could be their year.
St Michel manager Andrew Jean-Louis was philosophical in his thinking saying, “if we managed to score five against Anse Reunion in the first leg, this does not mean that they cannot score five or even six against us.”
“This is why the St Michel players have to go into this match with all guns blazing. The first leg is over and today’s match is a new one. We need to win and not take a casual approach to the match as we want to reach the final where we expect to give a good display,” said manager Jean-Louis.
Two-time defending champions La Passe also face a tough test after losing 0-2 to St Louis at Stad Linite in the first leg of the semifinal.
La Passe will need to win by at least three goals if they are to book a third consecutive Airtel Cup final appearance and extend their cup win to three in as many years.
In front of their home fans, they have proven time and time again that they have the ability to overturn any deficit but it remains to be seen if they can win their ‘home game’ on Praslin on Saturday.
“We lost the first leg, but we are not yet out as if we can work hard on the pitch, I am sure we will reverse the score,” said La Passe coach Bruno Saindini.
He added: “Our target since the start of the season was to retain our title and despite a few difficulties, we still believe we can make it.”
Kazeem Adeyeri and Tahiry were the scorers for St Louis as the rejuvenated side look for a first appearance in the tournament’s final since 2009 when they lost 1-2 to St Michel. In fact, St Louis have appeared in two Airtel Cup finals and lost both. The first was in 2007 and they were beaten 1-0 by Anse Reunion.
Since taking over as coach of St Louis, former national team defender Nigel Freminot has brought a change in the fortunes of the club and he is focussed on qualifying the team for the final as they look to complete their ascendency by claiming a first trophy since winning the Intelvision Cup in 2010.
“We are confident we will make it to the final, but we have to play hard. We cannot afford to concede goals, but at the same time we cannot play defensive,” coach Freminot told Sports Nation.
The former Western Tigers, St Michel and Seychelles central defender who ended his career with St Louis added that his players are fully aware of the task that lies ahead of them and they will be looking for goalscoring opportunities to finish off the encounter.
“My players know what they have to do and understand very well that defending champions La Passe are wounded and will be coming all out to reverse the score and qualify for the final. We are prepared for the match and ready to go,” added coach Freminot who will be without on-loan Collin Bibi who cannot play against La Passe.
Whatever the outcome today, Saturday’s Airtel Cup final will surely be a tense affair as the two finalists will do battle to etch their names in history.
The following are the past finalists and winners of the Airtel Cup:
2003 La Passe 4-3 Anse Reunion
2004 St Michel 1-1 Red Star [St Michel won 4-3 on penalties]
2005 Red Star 5-2 St Michel United
2006 Red Star 2-1 Sunshine
2007 Anse Reunion 1-0 St Louis Suns
2008 St Michel 1-1 La Passe [St Michel won 4-2 on penalties]
2009 St Michel 2-1 St Louis Suns
2010 St Michel 0-0 LightStars [0-0 after extra-time and St Michel won 4-3 on penalties]
2011 St Michel 4-2 La Passe
2012 Côte d'Or 1-0 St Michel
2013 St Michel 3-0 Côte d'Or
2014 La Passe 2-1 St Michel
2015 La Passe 1-0 St Michel
S. N.