Football: Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Cup Final |21 August 2020

Captain Benoit Marie (No 6) and company have has a great season

Côte d’Or desperate for season-end success

Praslin based Côte d’Or are desperate to end the 2019-2020 season on a high note by claiming for the first time the SFF Cup in their clash with league champions Foresters tomorrow at Stad Linite in the final.

The Côte D’Or manager, Andre Bedier, told Sports NATION that his team has never won this cup in their normally glorious history and thus the reason they will be going all out to lift this Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Cup tomorrow.

“This Cup is the only one missing in our collection along with the President’s season opening cup but which we won at the start of this season so it would be nice to win these two trophies which would make up for relinquishing our grip on the league crown,” the Côte d’Or manager revealed to Sports NATION.

Manager Bedier feels that his team should have retained the league title but failed to make the most of their advantage and lost it narrowly to the eventual winners Foresters whom they should have beaten in their league encounter but wasted a last minute penalty to settle for a draw which meant two dropped points which came to haunt them at the end of the league campaign.

“We were definitely good enough to retain the league crown as we lost it by a tight margin of one point in a season where we did not take our chances and it proved costly so now we must target to end this season on a high note by winning this cup at all cost,” the Côte d’Or manager said.

Nevertheless the Côte d’Or manager admitted though that their opponent will be highly motivated for this final and thinks it is going to be a fascinating encounter.

“Our opponent will be high in morale after their league success and the prospect of completing the league and cup double to make history will provide them extra motivation and also in the manner they dismantle La Passe in the semis will be further encouragement but we expect a balanced match which will be a good spectacle as we aim to triumph,” claimed Bedier.

This final may be the final match for their former skipper Jones Joubert who is reaching the end of his illustrious career and even their playmaker Collin Esther.

However manager Bedier reassured that his team are slowly integrating other promising youngsters and have earmarked four young talents that will be promoted to the senior squad next season.

“We are preparing for the future and replacement have already been identified but I also would like to state that we have not been entirely satisfied with our foreign contingents except for Malagasy Jonas and we have informed them they need to improve though our captain Benoit Marie has had a very good season where he has been consistent and played in all our matches as he is very disciplined and a role model and we hope he can lead us to cup success in the final,” the Côte d’Or manager said in conclusion.

R.J-L