Football: Chan 2018 Qualifiers - Seychelles confident going into the second leg |28 April 2017

Seychelles will face Mauritius in the return leg of the 2018 African Nations Championship qualifiers tomorrow afternoon and the team appear full of confidence as they put the final touches on preparation for the game.

Seychelles lost the away match on a 1-2 score, which was an encouraging result considering the team had prepared with coach Nigel Freminot, but travelled to Mauritius under the guidance of Joel Decommarmond, who gave a good account in his debut match with the national side.

“We had a fantastic game in Mauritius, where we dominated the game especially in the second half, but Mauritius won two free kicks and managed to score from both of them,” said coach Decommarmond about the away match.

He added that the main focus in training for Seychelles has been mostly on marking as well as defending set-pieces, which the Mauritians can be dangerous from.

“We want to focus on speed and aggression for tomorrow’s game, while we must also stay focused for the full 90 minutes,” he added.

Goalkeeper Ian Ah-Kong is out of the squad for tomorrow’s match, while the coach has called up three new players to the squad. They are Basil Bertin, Nelson Laurence and Andrew Onezia, who he hopes will provide the speed and aggression needed.

Coach Decommarmond has been away from the touch-line for a very long time and he has revealed that he wants to impress in this role and hopefully get the chance to carry on.

“I wasn’t expecting to be given this opportunity, but it has happened and I am happy for it,” he said, before adding; “I haven’t really been away from football; I’ve always been close, but I will try my best to give a good account of myself and hopefully if I am asked to stay on, it is a chance I will surely take.”

The former chairman of the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) also revealed that should he stay on, he want all to work hard to prove themselves deserving on being called up to the side and has said that the door is open to players across all divisions.

For tomorrow’s game, Seychelles will need at least a 1-0 win to seal passage to the next round, while if Mauritius do get on the scoresheet, then the team will need to win by a two-goal margin to go through.

The match will kick off at 4.30pm at Stad Linite.

S.N.