Football: Coasafa Cup   Seychelles record second loss |09 July 2022

Augusto De Jesus Carneiro of Angola challenges Josip Ravigna of Seychelles during the 2022 Hollywood bets Cosafa Cup match between Angola and Seychelles at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on July 7, 2022 (Photo: BackpagePix)

Seychelles will play their third and final group A match tomorrow against Comoros after registering a second loss in as many matches in the ongoing Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup.

At the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday, Seychelles lost 0-3 to Angola, thus dampening all their hopes of making it to the quarterfinals.

Angola took the lead through Julinho after 14 minutes before Megue scored his second of the competition via a penalty. Then Vanilson scored with a fine strike a minute from the end top complete the score.

This was Seychelles’ second loss after also losing the tournament’s opening match against Botswana on a 0-1 score on Tuesday.

Their last match is tomorrow against Comoros who are also without a win in two games played.

After losing their first game to Angola on a 0-2 score, Comoros fell 0-1 to Botswana in Thursday’s other match and Baokeditswe Talane scored the only goal of the game five minutes before half-time.

Angola and Botswana are locked on six points apiece and they will clash on Sunday to decide the group winners who will meet Zambia in the quarterfinal on July 12 at the Princess Magogo Stadium. On the same day and at the same venue, Madagascar will take on 2015 winners Namibia in the second quarterfinal encounter.

Group B winners will progress to the quarterfinals against Senegal on July 13 at the same venue. Also on July 13 in another quarterfinal match, hosts and holders South Africa will meet Mozambique, the team they beat in the semifinals last year.

The four losers from those quarterfinals will drop into the plate semifinals that will be played on July 15, with the winners into the Cup semifinals on the same day. The latter matches will be at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The victors in the Madagascar/Namibia quarterfinal will take on the winners of the match between South Africa and Mozambique in the semifinals, while the successful teams from the other two quarters will clash.

The final day of the tournament on July 17 will be a busy one with the plate final, third-place play-off and cup final all to be staged. The latter two will be at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Durban will host the competition for the second time after the 2019 event won by Zambia who defeated Botswana in the decider.

South Africa and Zambia will be hoping to join Zimbabwe on six tournament wins this year having each won five. Angola (three) and Namibia (one) are the only other winners of the regional showpiece event.

Mozambique, Malawi, and Botswana have all twice been finalists, but ended up on the losing side on both occasions. Lesotho are the only other team to reach the decider.

Gerard Govinden