Football: Seychelles team’s preparation for African Nations Cup 2015 |14 July 2014

Seychelles edged by Uganda in friendly

The Ugandan national team edged our senior national selection 1-0 in Kampala, Uganda on Friday evening in an official friendly match.

These two teams met as they prepare for their African Nations Cup 2015 qualifying adventure this coming weekend and it is also part of our national team’s training camp which they are following in Uganda under interim national team coach Ulrich Mathiot.

It was the second meeting between these two teams after the Ugandans thrashed our local team 5-1 on Wednesday in an unofficial meeting.

On Friday, coach Mathiot fielded his strongest line-up with St Louis Suns Henny Dufresne given the captain’s armband as he anchored the midfield comprising clubmate Bertrand Esther, Collin Esther, Rachim Padayachy and The Lions captain Gino Agathine who made his senior debut.

Coach Mathiot deployed a 3-5-2 formation with stalwarts Steve Henriette, Ronny Hoareau and Benoit Marie in defence in front of goalkeeper Vincent Euphrasie.

Former St Michel midfielder Karl Hall led the attack alongside Ryan Antat as the team held their own against a superior Ugandan side who were at full strength as they fielded their foreign-based stars.

The Seychelles team’s manager Michel Albert told Sports Nation that the team conceded a fluke goal in the first half though his players did not lose their focus after trailing 1-0 at half-time.

“Overall it was a good team performance where the players gave the best of themselves to frustrate our opponents,” manager Albert told Sports Nation.
The national team manager though was not pleased with the Ugandan referee who took charge of this friendly match as he dished out five cards to our players as well as banished head coach Mathiot to the stands for his protest.

“We are happy with the team’s performance despite a limited group of players to choose from due to pull outs as well as injuries,” coach Mathiot communicated to Sports Nation after the match.

The team manager also praised his players’ fighting spirit and singled out Karl Hall as their best player for this friendly match.
“We are confident that if the players give a repeat of this performance, we will have nothing to fear against Sierra Leone this coming Saturday,” claimed manager Albert.

The Seychelles team are in a 10-day training camp in Uganda where they are preparing for the African National Cup 2015 qualifying match in Sierra Leone while Uganda will play Mauritania in this same competition.

Our national squad will now travel to Freetown, Sierra Leone on Tuesday to finalise their preparation for their away match.

The Seychelles delegation is expected back in the country this coming Sunday and will dispute their second leg home match against Sierra Leone on August 2.

R. J-L