Senegal made it full by beating Madagascar 8-4 in their third match of Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations Mozambique 2022 group stage.
It was a real festival of goals at Vilankulo Arena. Seydina Diagne (2), Souley Coly (1), Saliou Ndoye (1), Mamour Diagne (3) and Seydina Sene (1), scored for Senegal, while on the Malagasy side Joel Jindy (1), Marcel Richard (1), Ymelda Razafimandimby (1) and Rakotomalala Jose Orlando (1), scored for Madagascar.
Tomorrow is reserved for the teams to rest, with the semi-final matches returning on Wednesday 26 October. Senegal will play Mozambique at 3.30pm (local time), but before that, Morocco and Egypt will be in action (2.30pm).
Group B leaders with 9 points, African title holders Senegal went into this round having secured their place in the semi-finals after two wins over Uganda and Egypt by 10-1 and 6-4 respectively.
Madagascar is now out of the contention having rattled off three consecutive defeats.
To reach the AFCON, Senegal eliminated Cameroon by a 16-4 aggregate after winning 7-3 at home and 9-1 away.
The champion and runner-up of this Beach Soccer AFCON will qualify for the World Cup, scheduled for Abu Dhabi in 2023. Last year, Africa was represented in the “Mundial” by Mozambique and Senegal.
What they said
Solofo Tsiavahana Ramarolahy, Madagascar coach
“It was a great experience but unfortunately we didn’t have the beach soccer in our country. The last international game played was in 2018, in Egypt, that is why we did not manage well this competition, this tournament in Mozambique. We did not even have an international preparation before we get here. But I’m happy with my boys, the team, we just had one week to prepare ourselves to the competition, so I am happy with what we did”.
Mamadou Diallo, Senegal coach
“I am proud of my boys, they won the game and it was very important. The most important is everybody knows a lot of teams wait Senegal to go to the final, for me the most important was not the qualification in the semi-final but to qualify for the final. The next match is against Mozambique, the host that I respect. Mozambique team is very good, and they will play in front of their people here. They are going to get a lot of support for the Mozambicans.”
Source: Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)