Senegal top African Beach Soccer
31 March 2008 A stunning second period, during which 13 goals were scored, set Senegal up to beat Cameroon 12-6 in a high-scoring final of the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2008 Qualifier at Durban's New Beach on Sunday.
By scoring eight goals in the 12-minute second stanza, Senegal took the game out of reach of Cameroon to secure the African Beach Soccer title.
A look at the scoresheet shows Mamadou Gomis Mbengue netted three times for the Senegalese in a frenetic second period scoring spree that had the scoreboard operators working overtime, and added another in the last period. While his effort stands out, if the truth be told, the victory was the result of a comprehensive team effort.
Strong start
Senegal started well and a goal each from Malick Dieng and Serigne Ndour gave them a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period.
An own goal from Aime Moubeke saw the lead increase to three within a minute of the restart, but he quickly made amends by scoring Cameroon's first goal 45 seconds later.
In quick succession, Mamadou Badiane Mbengue and Franck Batoum traded a goal at each to leave the score at 4-2 and the spectators thrilled by four goals in just over three minutes of the period.
Breath-taking scoring
Incredibly, the goal-scoring action increased as Senegal changed gear in the most breath-taking fashion. Their solid if unspectacular start was completely overshadowed as they went into overdrive and everything they tried came off.
In a stunning display of striking, Bou Dioum, then Pape Koupaki, and finally three from Gomis Mbengue took the game away from Cameroon and lifted Senegal to a commanding 9-2 lead within two frenzied minutes.
Cameroon never gave up and despite their hopeless situation they threw everything into attack. They were well rewarded, scoring three more goals in the final six minutes of the period, while Ngalla Sylla added a tenth for Senegal to leave the score at an incredible 10-5 at the final break.
Final period
Not surprisingly, Senegal opted to close things up at the back and simply soaked up the pressure for the final 12 minutes as they relied on counter-attacks to provide scoring opportunities.
Eric Yopa kept the Cameroon supporters interested by getting one back, but the five-goal cushion was soon restored when Gomis Mbengue scored his fourth of the match. Sylla completed the scoring with another goal for good measure.
The shell-shocked Cameroon side will take heart from the fact that, as winning semi-finalists, they earned a place alongside Senegal at the World Cup in France in July.
Third/fourth place playoff
In the earlier third/fourth place playoff, a four-goal blitz from Cote d'Ivoire's Ayemou Bobou earned his team a 6-3 victory over Egypt and the bronze medals.
Egypt started the stronger of the two teams with Ahmed Serie scoring twice to put the Pharaohs 2-0 up at the end of the first period. Jean Soro then scored from deep within his own half to pull one back for the Ivoreans, but a penalty from Hany Ahmed restored the two-goal cushion for Egypt going into the final break.
If Egypt thought they had the game wrapped up, they had not counted on the heroics of Bobou as he single-handedly sunk their challenge with four goals in the space of seven minutes.
A goal from Abdoulaye Konate wrapped up the scoring to give the Cote d'Ivoire side a deceptively big 6-3 victory.
Awards
Bobou's scoring spree earned him the title of top striker at the tournament with a haul of 12 goals from five matches, while his Cote d'Ivoire teammate Koffi Enam was named the top goalkeeper.
Senegal's Koupaki won the award for the top player at the tournament.
Durban shines
Fulvio Danilas, the
Fifa Beach Soccer worldwide general manager, said the success of the tournament had taken Durban a major step closer to hosting the 2011 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup.
"The facilities were excellent, the pitch and the stadium were as good as the best in the world, and the support from the people of Durban and the media was excellent," he said.
He also confirmed that Fifa is seriously seriously considering expanding the competition to cater for the increasing demand from other African nations, in particular Morocco, Ghana and Tunisia.
"It is also clear that the level of beach football in Africa has increased dramatically in the past 12 months. All teams left with at least one win, and four teams tied on three points proves this tournament has been very competitive."
Source: Gameplan Media
