Football: HOLLYWOODBETS Cosafa Cup 2023 |07 July 2023
Seychelles succumb to the Comoros in opening group match
• Malawi edge defending champions Zambia
Seychelles national selection’s hope of making it through to the knockout stage of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations Cup for the first time looks slim after they suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat at the hands of neighbours the Comoros in their opening group match played yesterday at the King Zwelithini Stadium in South Africa.
For the qualifiers, Seychelles have been drawn in group B alongside the Comoros, Malawi and Zambia.
The Comorians took the lead in the 27th minute through Affane Saïd Djambae who headed into the net from Bakri Youssouf's hopeful pass.
Ibroihim Youssouf Djoudja made 2-0 in the 39th minute, giving the Comoros a two-goal cushion at half-time. He scored with an absolute thunderbolt which is already a contender goal of the competition. The ball sat up nicely for Ibroihim Youssouf and he unleashed a 30-yard shot into the top corner of the net.
Raïdou Boina Bacar added a third goal for the Comoros in the 58th minute, securing three points to jump to top of the group.
Seychelles’ second match is against Malawi on Sunday and in their final group match on Tuesday July 11, they will play against Zambia.
This is the Comoros’ biggest ever victory in the regional competition and t is also the first time they had won a Cosfa Cup game by more than a single goal.
In the other group B match, Malawi completed a first HOLLYWOODBETS Cosafa Cup victory over defending champions Zambia since 2015 with a crucial 1-0 success in their clash at a vibrant King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Thursday.
An own goal from unfortunate Zambia defender Aaron Katebe settled the contest in the favour of The Flames, but the game could have gone either way as both sides had chances for more goals after that.
Group A features South Africa, Namibia, Eswatini and Botswana, while group C is made up of Mozambique, Angola, Mauritius and Lesotho.
Only the top team in each group advances to the semifinals, along with the best-placed runner-up across the three pools.
Roland Duval