Football: CAN 2017 qualifiers |05 September 2015

Henriette to captain new-look Seychelles against Ethiopia

Achille Henriette will captain Seychelles in today’s group J clash against Ethiopia in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2017 to be held in Gabon.

The Seychelles national team are under a new coaching team of Bruno Saindini and Rodney Choisy for this match and they called up some new faces in the shape of Jerome Dingwall, Andrew Onezia, Nelson Laurence, Jean-Paul Adela, Dine Suzette and Bertrand Lablache and the coaching team have appointed  La Passe’s Archille Henriette as team captain for this match as they want to freshen up the squad who failed miserably at the ninth Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) under the guidance of coach Ulric Mathiot whose mandate is now over.

Breathe a new lease of life

Coach Saindini told Sports Nation that he agreed to take temporary charge of the team in recognition of all the opportunities offered to him by the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) in terms of upgrading his coaching level.

“I decided to help out the federation in recognition for the good things they have done for my development as a coach. After all it is our team and we need to feel this sense of responsibility to help,” the La Passe coach said.

Coach Saindini is also hoping he can breathe new lease of life into our players though he is well aware that it is going to be a tough match but he still remains optimistic about our team’s chances.
 
“It is a big test for this team but we  will be ready for this challenge as we will ensure that our players are well prepared psychologically and we will aim for a victory in front of our home fans as football is a very unpredictable game and anything can happen in a one-off match and therefore we should never fear our opponents though we must respect them,” coach Saindini told Sports Nation as he urged the Seychellois public to come down in large numbers to support the team against a very tricky opponent.
 
SFF chairman Elvis Chetty also spoke to Sports Nation as he expressed his gratitude to the two coaches who accepted to take over the team for this match as well as wish the team the best of luck in the encounter.

“I would firstly thank the two coaches for putting up their hands to take charge of the national team and this shows that there are people who are grateful for what the federation is doing and we have therefore put faith in their ability and they have managed to create an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere as well as an intense and focussed training camp in preparation for this match,” the SFF chairman told Sports Nation.

Chairman Chetty though is conscious of the enormous task our team face but he still believes in our team’s chances.

“Ethiopia is without doubt a very strong team with a large population to choose from but nonetheless I believe our players are ready to challenge them today. We respect them but we will not shy away from competing against them. I would like to wish team Seychelles all the best and hopefully we can get a positive result,” Mr Chetty added.

Ethiopia aim for win at all cost   

Meanwhile the Ethiopian coach, Johannes Sahle, has said his team are ready and want to win this encounter at all cost.

“We are here in search of a win and we will do whatever possible to achieve this in this away match and we will have all our foreign players in a full strength squad and we are most grateful that we will also have over four hundred supporters travelling here for this match. This will further motivate our players to go for a win,” the former Dedebit coach who knows local football quite well revealed to Sports Nation.

The match between our Seychelles national team and Ethiopia will kick off at 4.30pm at Stad Linite and Sports Nation wishes our players the best of luck.

R. J-L.