14 April 2015 07:31
The 3(1)-3 (3) penalties win for the Ivory Coast over Egypt had superb examples of offensive and defensive beach soccer, along with enough drama to fill an Olympic sized pool. Egypt was on the defensive more much of the match but they found ways to score, in each period, before allowing Cote d’Ivoire to make the comeback and send the game into overtime. Despite a scoreless overtime, the energy was palpable and in the shootout the Ivory Coast came up bigger, scoring on all their attempts. The win in penalties gives the Ivory Coast 1 point, and second in Group A behind Nigeria. Cote d’Ivoire will look to get a win in regular time against Seychelles on Wednesday. Egypt nearly scored the big upset but with the way they played defensively, they will be a tough foe for anyone, specifically Nigeria on Wednesday.
The stakes are always high in a qualifier but with competition so tight, this match began with an intensity that was through the roof. On paper the Ivory Coast could be considered the favourites, but Egypt is no slouch and they showed everyone why on an early first period strike to take the 1-0 lead. The advantage held for the Egyptians had to rev up their defense as Cote d’Ivoire was knocking on the door for the equalizer, but the Pharaohs stoically held off the Elephants until the first 12 minutes came to an end. The Egyptians proudly hung on to the slim one goal lead going into the first break. The Cote d’Ivoire was pressing like their lives depended on it, but remarkably, they could not find their first goal, and the equalizer at that. If the Egyptians were beginning to crack from all the pressure, you could not tell as they nearly doubled their advantage on multiple occasions, seemingly out of nothing. The damns did not break and the score stayed the same, Egypt up 1-0 going into the middle of the match. The fierce competition continued until the Pharaohs scored a tremendous goal, their second of the match, after they had been playing defense nearly the entire match, to put the score at 2-0. The two goals quickly dwindled when in the final minute of the frame, the Ivory Coast scored their first, making the score 2-1 for Egypt going into the final frame.
The Cote d’Ivoire had been building confidence and things looked to be swinging their way, but on the 3rd period restart, the Egyptians blazed a shot in, taking a 3-1 lead very early in the final frame. The Elephants began looking at the deficit they faced very seriously, and netted their second of the match, a shot from Aka to draw them back to within one goal at 3-2. The score held through the middle of the frame and going into the final minutes of the match. The Ivorian Coast offense was unrelenting and in one of the most sound defensive performances in beach soccer, Egypt held strong until Aka scored his second of the match to level things at 3 with three minutes remaining. That is when the real drama began. Egypt was content to hold onto the ball and ride out the game to extra time, but a turnover gave the Egyptians a direct kick, from a dangerous position with 2 seconds left, the shot struck the crossbar and could not dribble in and the game went to overtime. The extra period went scoreless, not through lack of wanting, and the match went into penalty kicks where the Elephants saved one shot and that was enough to earn the 3 (1)-3 (3) victory.
Goals: 1-0: Ahmed M., min. 8 (1); 2-0: Mohamed G., min. 1 (2); 2-1: Kabletchi, min. 0 (2); 3-1: Moustafa A., min. 11 (3); 3-2: Aka, min. 10 (3); 3-3: Aka, min. 3 (3).
Penalties: Kouadio, goal; Moustafa S., goal; Aka, goal; Ahmed M., saved; Daniel.
CAF AFRICAN BEACH SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP SEYCHELLES 2015
Results Today:
Tuesday 14.04.15
15:00 – Senegal 7-3 Morocco (Group B)
16:15 – Ghana 4-9 Madagascar (Group B)
17:30 – Seychelles 1-10 Nigeria (Group A)
18:45 – Egypt 3 (1)-3 (3) Cote d’Ivoire (Group A)
Upcoming Matches:
Wednesday 15.04.15
15:00 – Nigeria vs. Egypt (Group A)
16:15 – Cote d’Ivoire vs. Seychelles (Group A)
17:30 – Morocco vs. Ghana (Group B)
18:45 – Madagascar vs. Senegal (Group B)
Source: www.beachsoccer.com
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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