Hosts Cape Verde (Men and Women), Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal hit first in Sal
Goals were the main protagonists at the opening day of the African Beach Games Sal 2019. The spectators at the Praia Santa Maria were treated to no less than 68 goals in the first five games in the competition.
The main favourites to the medals played their role, grasping their first wins in the competition and inching closer to the next stages and, consequently, the World Beach Games.
Morocco were the ones who took the first win in Sal with a stout 7-3 win over Algeria. Once again, Nassim el Hadaoui held the leading role in the Moroccan attacking production, and netted three goals to get his pretty high in the scorer’s list.
Not as high as Hego Ogbonna, though, whose four goals helped Nigeria roll past Kenya (10-4). Patrick Isaac’s hat-trick was not enough to counteract the Sand Eagles dominion, and the final whistle got Adamu’s their first win in the competition.
The widest gap in the score was the one secured by defending African kings, Senegal, who stormed past Djobouti (13-0) to grab the head of the table in Group B. With a hat-trick by Mamour Diagne, and braces by Diatta, Gueye, Adama and Diassy, the scoring responsability was fairly split amongst the Senegalese players.
And, if talking about goalscorers, one name stood above all the rest in this opening matchday at the African Beach Soccer Games Sal 2019: Elton Ramos. Cape Verde’s captain, with six goals, lead the hosts to a great win (6-14) over Equatorial Guinea that has Brito’s lads commanding the table in Group A.
Cape Verde Women’s seal big win, too
In the women’s competition, Cape Verde proved to be as inspired as their male colleagues, and secured a big win over Algeria (8-1) to see the dream of qualifying to the World Beach Games much closer. If they win again in the second leg of the women’s competition, they will keep the gold medal and seal the ticket to Qatar.
