Football: 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers |11 October 2019
Positive sign as Seychelles narrowly lose to South Sudan away
The chance for Seychelles to make it through to the group stages of the 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers is still alive, following a narrow 1-2 away loss at the hands of the Bright Stars of South Sudan on Wednesday.
The result at the Al- Merriekh Stadium in Khartoum, Sudan looks positive as the boys of Dutch coach Jan Mack still have a chance of going through.
A 1-0 win will tie the score at 2-2 on aggregate score and Seychelles will go through on the away goals rule.
Any other victory for Seychelles should not be less than two goals, since a South Sudan goal will cancel out the away goal advantage.
In Wednesdays’ match, Seychelles took a surprise lead after 12 minutes of play when Nigel Hoareau sneaked between two defenders before striking a venomous left foot shot from close range.
Playing in Omdurman as their home ground in Juba was unavailable, the Bright Stars got themselves back on level terms eight minutes later through Koang Thor Kejok.
The midfielder beautifully trapped Dominic Angelo Aroma’s free kick with his chest, before turning and rifling a volley past goalkeeper Ian Ah-Kong. The ball bounced off the underside of the bar before going into the net.
The home side were hugely offensive and searched for the advantage, pushing the Seychelles defenders into their own half, forcing them to defend deep.
South Sudan scored a second goal just one minute before half-time from a swiftly executed counter attack when Joseph Kuch Nyuar simply tapped into the net after running onto a cross from the left.
In the other matches played on Wednesday, Sao Tome e Principe were in destructive form, winning 3-1 away to Mauritius.
Sao Tome will now just need any kind of a draw in the return tie at home in four days’ time to book themselves a slot in the group stages of the qualifiers.
Djibouti and the Gambia left on a 1-1 draw, while Liberia beat Chad 1-0.
R. D.