Football: Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2023 |17 March 2022
The Seychelles selection before leaving for Mauritius
Seychelles in Mauritius for ‘home game’ against Lesotho
The Seychelles men’s national selection are in Mauritius ahead of their ‘home leg game’ of the preliminary stage of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2023 with Lesotho at the Côte d'Or National Sports Complex, St Pierre, Mauritius, on March 23, 2022.
Headed by Dolor Ernesta, the Seychelles selection left yesterday morning for neighbouring Mauritius and Ralph Jean-Louis, principal secretary for youth and sports, was at the Seychelles International Airport to see them off.
Last night manager Michael Delpech told Sports NATION they had settled in well and had followed a first training session at 6pm.
Before meeting Lesotho, Seychelles will play a friendly match against hosts Mauritius on Saturday at the Côte d'Or National Sports Complex.
The national selection will play their ‘home game’ in Mauritius rather than at Stad Linite because the stadium has not had the approval of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to host international matches as it needs further renovation and upgrading to fit the purpose.
Mauritius has received approval from Caf to host the Seychelles national team home game against Lesotho.
The Seychelles selection will later travel to Dobsonville, (Soweto), Southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, for the away match against Lesotho on March 27, 2022.
One of Africa’s 12 least ranked teams, Seychelles will have to eliminate Lesotho inthe preliminary stages to progress to the main groupings draw of the 34th TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2023 in Ivory Coast.
The other five pairing are as follows: high-flying Afcon debutants The Gambia will play Chad, Sao Tome will face Mauritius, Djibouti will meet South Sudan, Somalia will face Eswatini and Eritrea will clash with Botswana.
The preliminary round games of two-leg ties will be played between March 21 and March 29, 2022. The six winners on aggregate scores will join 42 other countries in a draw that will produce 12 groups with the winners and runners-up qualifying for the next Afcon tournament in Ivory Coast in 2023.
The 24 players selected for the trip are Jerome Dingwall, Helton Monnaie, Julio Brown, Stan Esther, Don Fanchette, Benoit Marie, Perry Ernesta, Brandon Labrosse, Josip Ravignia, Dean Mothé, Gervais Waye-Hive, Warren Mellie, Kenner Nourrice, Juninho Mathiot, Thierry Camille, Dean Balette, Ryan Henriette, Alvin Michel, Elie Sopha, Hubert Jean, Ricko Julius, Colyn Francourt, Romeo Padayachy and Imra Raheriniaina.
Elie Sopha, son of former Seychelles goalkeeper Nelson Sopha, and Imra Raheriniaina, son of ex-St Michel diminutive attacker Clovis, are the youngest players on the team and they are both aged 17 years old.
Other than head of delegation Dolor Ernesta, the officials who have made the trip are Michael Delpech (manager), Vivian Bothe (head coach), Bruno Saindina, Rodney Choisy, Gerald Gonthier (assistant coaches), Juan Michel and Kenneth Henriette (doctor).
Gerard Govinden