Kickoff (Cape Town)
8 December 2008
After leading his team to a surprise penalty shootout victory over Nigeria's Flying Eagles in the quarterfinals of the WAFU Under-20 championship, Senegal coach Mayacine Mar has expressed regret that his team had to play the Flying Eagles in the qualifiers for the African Youth Championship.
The Senegalese lost that tie 3-0 on aggregate and were eliminated from the AYC proper, leaving Mar reflecting on what might have been.
"If we had met another team and not the Flying Eagles we would have qualified for the African Youth Championship in Rwanda."
Mar's wards triumphed 4-2 on penalties after both sides played out a 1-1 draw in normal time, but the Senegal coach had nothing but praise for the losers.
"The Flying Eagles are a strong team and the fact that they were defeated in the WAFU Cup does not take anything away from the team especially as penalty shootout is a game of luck."
Having seen off the Nigerian challenge, Mar says his team can be positive about going all the way.
"We hope to go all the way in the championship now that Nigeria who are the favourites are out as our aim is to make up for the inability to qualify for the African Youth Championship by winning the WAFU Cup."
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