Football: Cosafa Cup-Seychelles team leave for South Africa today |28 November 2007

Drawn in group B, Seychelles will play alongside Zambia, Angola and Namibia in the tournament which will run from November 29 to December 10.

As part of their preparation for the Cosafa Cup, the team, coached by Congolese Raoul Shungu, played seven friendly matches – winning five, drawing one and losing the other.

Coach Shungu has said that although the pool B opponents are tough, the Seychellois players are willing to play their hearts out as they proved in the friendly that they are combative and have the winning spirit.

“We would like to progress to the semifinals, but all will depend on how well the young lads perform,” coach Shungu told Sports Nation.

The 20 players making the trip to South Africa are Julio Toulon (goalkeeper, St Michel Youth), Marcus Havelock (goalkeeper, St Louis Suns United), Hamed Adrienne (defender, SMB), Andrew Maria (defender, Northern Dynamo), Kevin Quatre (defender, Foresters), Julio Denousse (defender, Arsu), Jemmy Edmond (defender, Red Star), Rondy Onezime (midfielder, St Francis), Norvil Gaspard (midfielder, Foresters), Steven Télémaque (midfielder, Northern Dynamo), Marty Fanny (midfielder, SMB), Colin Esther (midfielder, Light Stars), Fabien Cadeau (midfielder, St Louis Suns United), Trevor Poiret (striker, St Louis Suns United), Gervais Waye-Hive (striker, Red Star), Ian Mellie (striker, Foresters), Francis Moumou (striker, Northern Dynamo), Aaron Jean (striker, Foresters), Ernesto Doway (striker, Red Star) and Damien Maria (striker, St Louis Suns United).

Of the 20 players on the squad, Adrienne, Havelock, Edmond, Gaspard, Télémaque, Esther, Cadeau, Poiret, Waye-Hive, Jean, Moumou and Doway have first division experience.

Other than coach Shungu, the other four individuals accompanying the team are Georges Bibi (head of delegation), Yvon Azemia (team manager), Cliff Nolin (assistant coach) and Rajack Ramjauny (doctor).

A total of 14 teams are to participate in the competition. Groups A and B are made up of four teams each, while groups C and D comprise three teams respectively.

Hosts South Africa have been drawn in pool A along with Lesotho, Mauritius and Botswana. Malawi, Madagascar and Swaziland make up group C, while Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Comoros are in group D. Only the four group winners will qualify for the semifinals.

It is to note that last year, Seychelles withdrew its participation from the competition slated for December 6-18.
The Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) stated the short notice of the competition dates and the competition itself was the main reason why the local football body decided not to participate in last year’s edition of the tournament.

In three appearances in the competition in 2000, 2004 and 2005, Seychelles has never gone past the group stage.

In their first appearance in the competition in 2000, Seychelles lost 0-3 to Zambia and 1-3 to Namibia to go out of the tournament. The team’s only goal was scored by defender Denis Belle.

The country’s team’s second participation was in 2004. Coached by Ralph Jean-Louis and Bernard Dorasamy, they scored first through Ronny Rose against Angola in their first game but still lost the encounter 1-3.

They then defeated Mozambique 1-0, thanks to a second half goal by captain Che Dorasamy. The team then suffered harsh defeats to hosts South Africa (8-1) and Mauritius (4-0).

In 2005, the team lost all their group C matches against Malawai (0-2), Angola (0-5), Namibia (1-3) and Madagascar (0-7) in Durban, South Africa.

Upon the team’s return, head of delegation Justin Mathiot and Congolese coach Raoul Shungu said that the performance of the team nosedived because some players used illegal substances, drank alcohol and spent the night with women in their rooms.
 
A disappointed SFF boss Suketu Patel added that the Seychelles squad had depth and the necessary ingredients to win the competition.

The culprits – 11 of them altogether - of the different incidents were handed lengthy suspensions.

G. G.