The Seychelles men’s national football team on Tuesday won one out of two friendly matches against Bangladesh.

The Seychelles’ side won the second match 1-0 after losing the first game by the same score on Sunday. The team, led by coach Vivian Bothe, was without a win since November 2021 despite playing 10 games.

The winning goal on Tuesday came from Seychellois Michael Mancienne, who plays for the English club Burton Albion, from the penalty spot after 60 minutes of play at the Synthetic District Stadium in Bangladesh.

Seychelles got the penalty after Saad Uddin’s challenge against Seychellois full-back Daryl Louis inside the penalty box in the second half. Saad was lucky not to get a red card for the foul in which he appeared to kick the Seychelles defender on the head.

The game ended with a solitary goal and this was the first-ever international goal for Mancienne with the Seychelles side. He has played five matches with the Seychelles national team.

The win means that the friendly series ended with a win for both teams. In the first match on Sunday, it was Finland-born Bangladeshi defender Tariq Raihan Kazi who scored the winner in the 43rd minute of the game.

The two friendly matches were part of the country’s preparations for the upcoming Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in Madagascar, which pits nations in the region against each other in a multi-sports event.

One of Seychelles football’s biggest achievements in the competition is winning the gold medal at the 2011 edition of the games held on home soil.

The Seychellois side will be hoping to put in another good performance this time around. All teams in the region are ranked higher than Seychelles on the FIFA men’s football world ranking.

Seychelles is ranked at 199th position with Madagascar having the highest in the region at 102nd. Comoros is at 129th, Mauritius 180th, and Maldives 156th.

Source: Seychelles News Agency