The Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup qualifier in Durban is becoming a drama-laden goal-fest with another 38 goals and another dramatic sudden-death penalty shootout the highlights of the second day on Thursday.
The day started with Mauritius getting their second hiding when their tournament ended with a 10-3 defeat by Egypt. They were joined on the sidelines in contrasting fashion by Libya, who lost their second penalty shootout in two days after a 6-6 draw with Mozambique. Then Ivory Coast opened their account with a narrow 7-6 victory over Morocco.
Friday's action will start with Nigeria and Egypt clashing, with a place in the semi-final the reward for the winner. Then Mozambique will take on Senegal with the same prize at stake before South Africa try to overcome Ivory Coast and sneak into the playoff via the back door.
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After the one-sided opener, Thursday's action heated up and Mozambique sneaked an unlikely victory over the cantankerous Libyans, with captain and goalkeeper Pedro Barca the hero for the victors.
| Libya had to live through it all again |
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 Barca's penalty save, Raafique Manel slotted home from the spot to put Mozambique equal on top of the log with Senegal before their meeting on Friday in the group decider.
The final result was 6-6 after extra time with 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.
In the day's final clash, Ivory Coast won a tense and bad-tempered match against Morocco 7-6.
After conceding the first goal Ivory Coast were never again behind but were also never able to break the spirit of the aggressive Moroccans who kept pulling themselves back into contention with their never-say-die attitude that came within 93 seconds of earning a draw.
| Ivory Coast held a tenuous lead at the first break |
The hero for the Ivoreans was Ludovic Ehounou, whose opportunism allowed him to find the net five times.
Flurry
Ivory Coast held a tenuous lead at the first break thanks to a last-second strike from Ehounou, who latched on to a loose ball after Frederic 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 ended with Ehounou rifling in a shot from the kick-off to give his side the lead with seven minutes left.
One hundred seconds from the final whistle Morocco's Salhi Yassine pulled his side level for the third time in the period but seven seconds later Aka fired onto the post once again and Ehounou was on hand to finish things off. - Sports Reporter
- This article was originally published on page 12 of The Mercury on July 03, 2009
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