Football-Wilnes Brutus and Jonathan Bibi off to Italy |10 January 2005

Two more young Seychellois footballers - Red Star’s striker Wilnes Brutus and La Passe's central defender Jonathan Bibi - are to leave the country today. Their destination is Italy with Serie C1 side, US Cremonese.

Both Brutus and Bibi were two of the best players here last year. While Brutus is the reigning footballer of the year and was the Sunkiss'd division one joint top-scorer with La Passe's Malagasy striker Eric Rajaobery, Bibi finished the 2004 season as the second best player.

Red Star’s dreadlocked striker Brutus and La Passe's intelligent central defender Bibi have represented Seychelles at youth and senior level.

They both played in the Seychelles youth team who participated in the qualifiers for the Olympics Games which took place in Athens, Greece, in 2004. At senior level, they played at the Sixth Indian Ocean Islands Games in Mauritius in 2003, winning a bronze medal and formed part of the Seychelles selection who competed in the qualifiers of the African Nations Cup 2004.

The two players are to follow a seven-week trial with Cremonese and hopefully things will work out well for them.

Bibi, 20, made his international debut for Seychelles during the African U17 Championship which the country hosted in 2001.

Reached by telephone, Bibi said that he was looking forward to go on the trial.

“This is a chance of a life-time. Presented to me is a good opportunity to move forward as a footballer. I’m ready to give it my best shot,” said Bibi, who won two League titles in 2002 and 2004 as well as the Airtel Cup in 2003 in his three seasons with La Digue-based La Passe.

With four goals in two matches against Mauritius and Uganda in the qualifiers for the Olympics Games, Brutus proved his ability to score goals and he continued to bang in the goals for Red Star, hitting the target 19 times in last year’s Sunkiss’d division one League.

After joining Red Star in 1998, Brutus had to accept a substitute role until 2000 when Malagasy coach Mosa drafted him in the starting 11.

Asked how he felt after being presented with such a chance, Brutus replied:
“I did not expect to be given such an opportunity, but I am happy that it has come. I’ve worked hard over the years to reach my present level and I feel that my game has improved a lot. I don’t know anything about Cremonese, but with Jonathan’s presence it will help in the adaptation.”
 
It is to note that Brutus, 21, won the old SMB division one League title with Red Star in 1998 and 2001 and the Land Marine Cup last year.

Involved in the 2004/2005 Serie C1 championship, US Cremonese, who had spells in Serie A alongside European giants like AC Milan and Juventus, were formed in 1903.

The club’s record after 16 matches in the ongoing league competition is 10 wins, two draws and four defeats.

It is worth noting that Serie C is the name of the third and fourth highest football leagues in Italy. It is broken up into Serie C1 (third tier) and Serie C2 (fourth tier). In turn, Serie C1 consists of two divisions -  Serie C1/A and Serie C1/B. For the 2004/2005 season, C1/A has 19 teams, while C1/B has 18. At the end of the season, four teams (two from each division) will be promoted to Serie B and six teams (three from each division) go down to Serie C2 which consists of three divisions - Serie C2/A, Serie C2/B, and Serie C2/C.

G. G.