Football-Sweet victory for Seychelles |08 August 2011

Vice-President Danny Faure was there early in anticipation of this eagerly awaited pool A match.

If in 1985 the Mauritians shocked our team at Stad Popiler with a goal with just six seconds played, the boys of coach Ralph Jean-Louis returned them the favour 26 years later as they got off to a perfect start, stealing the ball after the Dalon had kicked off. Nelson Laurence slotted home after 35 seconds, when many spectators had barely taken their seats, to give Seychelles an amazing 1-0 lead which sent the crowd wild.

This opening goal set the tone of the match as our boys took charge of things and in the fourth minute Alex Nibourette played a neat one-two with Kevin Betsy to open the Mauritian defence but the former saw his shot crash against the post with the goal at his mercy.

Coach Jean-Louis had brought in Achille Henriette for this encounter as a tactical adjustment and it proved a master stroke as the La Passe midfielder was a constant thorn in the Mauritian defence and even got on the score-sheet.

In the 29th minute, Henriette picked himself up after being fouled and in a well-worked free-kick, he curled a 30m shot which bounced awkwardly in front of Mauritian goalkeeper Abou Bakar Argustin who could only watch as the ball went through his gloves and crossed the line to give the local team a 2-0 lead.

In an almost spotless first half, it was only the booking of defender Jones Joubert for a reckless tackle which was a concern as he will miss the next match.

In the second half, the Mauritians had to push forward but Betsy almost punished them in the 52nd minute as he pounced on Joye Estazie’s mistake but he shot straight at Argustin.

The Seychelles team frustrated the Mauritians and just past the hour mark, Henriette was the victim of a nasty foul by defender Jean-Pascal Bazerque who sent him flying on the tracks and he suffered a minor cut above an eye but returned to continue tormenting the old enemy.

In the 76th minute, the Mauritians were given a lifeline as the Seychelles team temporarily went to sleep and were punished.

It started as they gave away a poor free-kick floated by substitute Kervin Godon which was cleared back to him. He cut the ball back to another substitute, Fabrice Pitchia, on the edge of the penalty area and his shot took a wicked deflection off the head of Nigel Freminot to wrong-foot goalie Nelson Sopha to reduce the arrears to 2-1.

In the 87th minute, Godon sprung the Seychelles offside trap and everyone held their breath as he bore on goal but Sopha made a world-class save to deny the Mauritian an equaliser much to the delight of the huge crowd who breathed a big sigh of relief and minutes later, the vuvuzelas were deafening as the final whistle blew and the public celebrated joyfully.

Coach Jean-Louis had managed to guide his team to a famous victory and avoid a repeat of the events of 1993 at the Games when the team gave away a 2-0 lead to lose 2-6 in the third place play-off and in some way it was sweet revenge.

Coach Jean-Louis told Sports Nation that his team played with discipline and he was satisfied with their overall performance.

“We wanted an early goal and when it came it helped us. But in the second half, we conceded a stupid goal out of nothing but overall the win was very important,” professed the national trainer.

As for his counterpart, Akbar Patel, he said his team did not play well in the first period but improved in the second but failed to overcome the score.

Seychelles need a draw against the Maldives tomorrow at 6pm at Stad Linite to qualify for the semifinal stage.

Reunion edge Madagascar

Defending champions Reunion came from behind to beat Madagascar 2-1 on Saturday in a pool B match.
However, the Malagasies have only themselves to blame as they should have won this match but now face elimination from the tournament.

Yvan Rajaorimanana gave the Malagasies the lead in the 11th minute as he converted Baggio Rakatonomenjananahary’s cross.

The Malagasies though gifted the Reunion a free-kick in the 50th minute after their goalie Robin Rakotonirina picked up Many Randrianarisoa’s back pass. Reunion’s captain Eric Farro rolled the ball to Mamoudou Diallo who blasted it into the roof of the net from two metres out to make the score read 1-1.

Rajoarimanana almost scored in the 65th minute as his fierce shot crashed against the foot of the post.
In the 85th minute, Malagasy captain Jimmy Radafison committed suicide as he gave the ball to captain Farro who punished him with a stinging shot which flew into the net to make it 2-1 for an improbably victory. Coach Mosa was very angry with his players for giving Reunion a win which they did not really deserved and now have to hope Mayotte can do them a favour today.

Comores and Maldives share the points

The Comores and the Maldives shared an entertaining 2-2 draw in a pool A match on the same day.
The impressive Maldives took the lead in the fifth minute through Thoriq Ahmed.

However, the Comores hit back four minutes later as Ibraim Madihali levelled matters to make it 1-1.
The Maldivians regained the advantage in the 47th minute from the penalty spot.  Fazeel Ibrahim slotted the ball home for a 2-1 lead.
The Comoros fought back in the 52nd minute as substitute Soulaymane Attoumane equalised for a 2-2 final score which disappointed the Maldives’ Argentine coach Diego Andres.

R. J-L.