Group D at the on-going Beach Soccer Nations Cup in Seychelles produced two of the most exciting games of the tournament.
The Black Sharks of Ghana battled hard but lost 5-3 to North African champions Morocco in an eight goal feast. Shortly afterwards, Madagascar matched reigning champions Senegal boot for boot until extra time before recording the biggest upset of Afcon 2015 so far.
ln the Black Sharks game, Ghana led twice but at 3-3, the curse of poor officiating struck again.
A direct free kick was awarded in favour of Morocco after a blatant dive which should rather have seen a yellow card for simulation. The resultant goal gave Morocco the lead and as Ghana pushed forward for the equaliser, a long range drive looped over the head of the Sharks keeper to kill off any potential comeback to end the game 5-3 in favour of Morocco.
In group A, in- form Nigeria beat Egypt 4-1 to edge closer to the semis as Ivory Coast also sneaked to a 2-1 win over hosts Seychelles.
More drama is expected in group B on Thursday when Ghana face Senegal and Madagascar play Morocco. The quality of play being exhibited by teams in Seychelles must be encouraging but officiating also needs to improve to match the obvious rise in a sport that is sweeping through Africa like a storm.
Meanwhile, Ghana has submitted a petition to CAF and Beach Soccer World Wide protesting against ‘’unfair officiating’’ in their two games. Five penalties were awarded to Madagascar at a time Ghana led 2-0 in their first game eventually losing 9-4.
