Football   Seychelles women’s team register a win and a draw in Mauritius |11 July 2022

The women’s team upon their return home yesterday

The country’s women’s football team registered a win and a draw in two friendly matches played in Mauritius.

In their first match against Rodrigues last Tuesday, the Seychelles team beat Rodrigues 5-0 with Natacha Bibi scoring a hat-trick, while, Reena Esther and Vesna Cesar scored a goal apiece.

They played their second match on Saturday July 9 against the host country in a tier 1 Fédération internationale de Football Association (Fifa) game and drew 1-1. Reena Esther was again on target, getting the equaliser for Seychelles before the break after the Mauritians had taken the lead.

Known to be a good finisher, Natacha Bibi inexplicably missed a glorious chance in the last five minutes of the match to give Seychelles the win.

Despite the miss, Bibi won the top scorer award.

The team returned home yesterday afternoon and were met at the Seychelles International Airport by principal secretary for youth and sports Ralph Jean-Louis, and Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) president Elvis Chetty.

Speaking to Sports NATION, team captain Pascalina Moustache said the “players gave a very good account of themselves.”

“We played some great football despite the cold weather which we are not used to. The players followed the game plans and we are proud to have found the equaliser against Mauritius who were playing in front of their fans. We could have even won the match had Natacha (Bibi) not missed the glorious opportunity,” captain Moustache told Sports NATION.

It is worth noting that Mauritius also beat Rodrigues 5-0, meaning Mauritius and Seychelles finished with the same number of points ‒ 4 ‒ and goal difference of +5 (6 goals for and 1 against).

Nineteen players made the trip to Mauritius and they are Elvina Marie, Mendy Gabriel, Rahimah Moumou, Reena Esther, Natacha Bibi, Itarra Lagrenade, Guyra Boniface, Pascalina Moustache, Nerlice Fred, Rachel Cadeau, Alisha Matatiken, Cheryl Vidot, Samira Florentine, Nelly Larue, Avril Ally, Junna Philo, Berina Ladouce, Kimbelly Chang-Tak-Hue and Vesna César.

Philip Sinon (head of delegation), Peggy Freminot (team manager), Angeline Chua (head coach), Florence Marie (assistant coach), Slim William (goalkeeper coach), Gracie Nartey (physiotherapist) were also part of the delegation.

It was on Monday April 4 this year that the team earned their Fifa ranking after Natacha Bibi scored twice in a 2-6 loss to hosts Singapore in the opening game of the FAS Tri-Nations Series 2022 (Women’s) tournament at the Jalan Besar Stadium in front of 1,500 fans.

Gerard Govinden