Two humdingers in Durban qualifiers
3 July 2009
Goals continued to flow on the second day of the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Qualifier in Durban on Thursday, with 38 shots finding the back of the net on a day that included one runaway victory and two cliffhangers.
The day started with newcomers Mauritius on the receiving end of their second hiding of the tournament when they went down 10-3 to Egypt. After a 13-0 thrashing at the hands of Nigeria in their first match, the loss meant the end of their tournament.
The Mauritians were joined on the sidelines by Libya, but there could hardly have been a greater contrast in the manner of their exit. For the second time in two days, the Libyans were beaten in a penalty shootout after a 6-6 draw with Mozambique.
Finally, in Group A, Cote-d'Ivoire opened their account with a narrow 7-6 victory over Morocco.
Unlikely victory
After a one-sided opener, the action heated up as Mozambique sneaked an unlikely victory over the cantankerous Libyans, with captain and goalkeeper Pedro Barca the hero for the victors.
After losing to Senegal in heartbreaking circumstances on the opening day, Libya had to live through it all again with Barca saving a sudden-death penalty to give Mozambique a victory few predicted before the tournament.
After a penalty save by Barca, Raafique Manel slotted home from the spot to put Mozambique equal on top of the log with Senegal, thus setting up a group decider against the 2008 champions.
It was 6-6 after extra time, with Mozambique's hat-trick hero Bethino Matlombe scoring his third with just 41 seconds left, to pull the scores level for the first time since Libyan Houssein Ben Saoud scored the first of his four goals in the seventh minute.
Overall Libya was the stronger side and many times throughout the match it was only Barca's acrobatics between the posts that kept his side in contention.
Tense encounter
In the day's final clash, Cote d'Ivoire won a tense and bad-tempered match against Morocco 7-6.
After conceding the first goal, Cote d'Ivoire were never again behind, but they were also never able to break the spirit of the aggressive Moroccans, who kept pulling themselves back into contention with a never-say-die attitude that came within 93 seconds of earning them a draw.
The hero for the Ivoreans was Ludovic Ehounou, whose opportunism allowed him to find the net five times. Three of his goal came as a result of following up shots by Frederic Aka, which he either collected on the rebound off the post or the goalkeeper.
While Ehounou was the hero, it was a real team effort that took Cote d'Ivoire side to victory, with each member of the team having to do their bit to hold off the physical Moroccans in a match that threatened to break out into warfare at times.
Tenuous lead
Cote d'Ivoire held a tenuous lead at the first break thanks to a last-second strike from Ehounou, who latched onto a loose ball after Aka's shot had been blocked. The teams traded goals in the second period to leave the score at 3-2 going into the final period.
Ehounou gave his side a two-goal cushion early in the third when he was on hand to slot home after Aka's shot from an acute angle spun off the post. Then a flurry of five goals in just over a minute twice had Morocco back on even terms, but it ended with Ehounou rifling in a shot from the kickoff to give his side the lead with seven minutes left.
With only 100 ticks left on the clock until the final whistle, Morocco's Salhi Yassine pulled his side level for the third time in the period, but just sevens seconds later Aka fired onto the post once more and Ehounou was on hand to finish things off.
SAinfo reporter
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