Seychelles national beach soccer team tests skills in Dubai training camp 

The team returned to Seychelles recently after the training in Dubai. (Herald Kowlessur) 

The Seychelles national beach soccer team has learned a lot from their recent training camp in Dubai, which included some tough test games and watching some World Cup games, said the head coach Herald Kowlessur.

The team returned to Seychelles recently after the training in Dubai, aimed at testing the level of the squad against tough opponents in preparation for the 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup that the island nation will host.  

The World Cup 2025 will be the very first that Seychelles competes in the tournament and the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) wants the team to give a good account of themselves as they will face the world's best teams.  

Kowlessur told reporters that "It was a good experience for the players and myself as the coach," and added that the team played some test matches that "we learned a lot from these games and this will now allow us to work on the things that we lack and look to improve." 

Seychelles played four test matches and lost 4-1 to African champions Senegal, 7-1 against Italy, 4-2 against the United Arab Emirates, and 10-4 against a mixed selection.

Kowlessur explained that with a little over a year to go, the work with the national team will continue. After comparing their level with the teams they faced in Dubai, it was clear that Seychelles is far behind.

"The teams are technically and tactically more intelligent than us, and while we continue training, we will have to look for more test matches against the toughest teams, in order to improve," added Kowlessur.

Seychelles played four test matches in Dubai. (Herald Kowlessur) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

Seychelles will be able to test themselves again when they compete in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup, in Durban, South Africa from March 18 to 25.

Meanwhile, the beach soccer national team manager, Georges Bibi, said Seychelles will look for the assistance of some foreign coaches to help with the preparation of the team ahead of the World Cup.

"We have had some preliminary discussions with foreign coaches, but we have been advised that match practice is the most important thing for the team to improve now," said Bibi.

He added that the team's target is to reach the final of that competition and that they will need to get more11-aside players into beach soccer, as they have noticed that most of the players playing at the World Cup are players of regular football.

The last high level beach soccer competition Seychelles took part in was the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2021.

Seychelles qualified for the second time for the final stage of the AFCON beach soccer competition in Senegal in May 2021 after Madagascar pulled out but did not reach the final stage.

This was Seychelles' second participation in the final stage of the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations after it qualified automatically in the very first edition that the archipelago hosted in 2015. Madagascar won the competition and Seychelles finished in eighth place.