Football: Tri-Nation Tournament-The Pirates of Seychelles ready to conquer |26 June 2006

The Pirates is the new name of the Seychelles national football team and it was Richard Mondon of Mare Anglaise who proposed the name.

The Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) chose the name ‘The Pirates’ from the list it received, saying it is more appropriate for the country’s team.

But before the Pirates get to unveil their new plans and start roaming the seas starting with the Tri-Nation Tournament being organised by the SFF as part of activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the country’s independence, they will have to watch their opponents in action this afternoon.

In their first friendly match played against St Louis, the Pirates won 4-0 and they were expected to play Sunshine Sunday June 25 at Stad Popiler.

Although coach Shungu has not yet made his final selection for the tournament, it is very likely that he will be without Francis Nourrice, Alex Nibourette, Don Anacoura and Denis Barbé who are unavailable for selection due to injury.

Meanwhile, the Mauritius national team arrived on Saturday night while that of Tanzania jetted in Sunday afternoon.

The Club M of Mauritius is coached by Rajen Dorasami and France L'Aiguille.
Coach L’Aiguille told Sports Nation that 10 new players have joined the team who started training on June 6.

This is a good opportunity for the new players to get more experience and get accustomed to international football. They are here in search of a place in the country’s final team for the forthcoming Indian Ocean Islands Games and the qualifiers of the African Nations Cup 2008,” he said.

Coach L’Aiguille added that only three of the seven Mauritian internationals who play for top Reunionnais clubs have made the trip to Seychelles. They are Kevin Godon, Jerry Louis (St Denis) and Jimmy Cundasami (USS Tamponnaise).

Speaking to Sports Nation Sunday afternoon at the Seychelles International Airport, Pointe Larue upon his team’s arrival, coach Ali Bushir said the Tanzanian team are here to win.

“We are taking it (the tournament) seriously. We want to show the Seychellois that we have come to compete and not just to play. We will play good football and we will be the champions,” said coach Bushir.

All the members of the Tanzania team play at home and they come from Simba Sports Club, Dar es Salaam Young Africans, Mtibwa Sugar and Malindi of Zanzibar.

This afternoon’s opening encounter of the tournament will kick off at 5 p.m. at Stad Popiler.
The tournament’s second match is between hosts Seychelles and Mauritius on Wednesday June 28 at 5 p.m. at Stad Popiler.

The last match will pit Seychelles against Tanzania and it will take place on Friday June 30 also at 5 p.m. at Stad Popiler.

Tickets for each match will cost R20 but spectators won’t be allowed to sit in the grandstand.
It must be noted that matches of the tournament were to be played at Stad Linite but the SFF has been forced to move them to the smaller Stad Popiler as the bigger stadium at Roche Caïman is not available.

G. G.