Cosafa Beach Soccer Championship |29 September 2022
Seychelles suffer heavy loss to Senegal, out of semifinals
Seychelles have failed to qualify for the semifinals of the Hollywoodbets Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Beach Soccer Championship taking place in South Africa after losing 2-12 to Senegal in their third and last group A match to finish third.
Yesterday at the Durban South Beach Arena, Seychelles always faced a tall order against the mighty Senegal who were the 2015 Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations winners and made the semifinals of last year’s Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia.
In fact, this was Seychelles’ second 2-12 loss in three days ‒ the biggest defeat achieved at the tournament so far.
There were hat-tricks for Mamour Diagne who took his tally in the competition to six, and Mamadou Sylla. Samba and Diatta added two goals apiece, while Faye and Sene also got their names on the score sheet for the west African side.
Alpha Baldé and Williams scored for Seychelles.
Senegal finished the league stage with maximum nine points, while Seychelles were ranked third with three points after collecting just one win against hosts South Africa on day one on a 3-2 score. They suffered a battering (2-12) at the hands of defending champions Mozambique in their second encounter.
In yesterday’s other group A match, Mozambique made sure of second place when they defeated hosts South Africa 8-4, the latter losing all three of their pool games on home soil.
Mambas star Nelson scored four goals in the game to head this year’s scorers’ charts with eight and stay on course to be the leading marksman in the competition for the second year running.
In group B, Egypt took top spot in a winner-takes-all battle with Uganda as they emerged comfortable 7-2 winners.
The hero for them was defender Hassan Hussein, who bagged a hat-trick with some stunning long range shots.
Last year’s beaten finalists Tanzania restored some pride with a 5-2 victory over Mauritius that ensured they avoided the wooden spoon in group B. Both teams had lost their first two games and were already out of the running for a semifinal place.
In Friday’s semifinals, African champions and group A leaders Senegal will meet group B runners-up Uganda and group B winners Egypt will tackle group A runners-up Mozambique.
GROUP STANDINGS
GROUP A P W W+ WP L GF GA GD PTS
Senegal (Q) 3 3 0 0 0 25 9 16 9
Mozambique (Q) 3 2 0 0 1 24 11 13 6
Seychelles 3 1 0 0 2 7 26 -19 3
South Africa 3 0 0 0 3 9 19 -10 0
GROUP B P W W+ WP L GF GA GD PTS
Egypt (Q) 3 3 0 0 0 17 8 9 9
Uganda (Q) 3 2 0 0 1 15 11 4 6
Tanzania 3 1 0 0 2 10 10 0 3
Mauritius 3 0 0 0 3 7 20 -13 0
Key: P = Played; W = Won; W+ = Won in extra-time; WP = Won on penalties; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; PTS = Points
Points Allocation:
Three points for a win
Two points for a win in extra-time
One point for a win via penalty kicks