APA-Dakar (Senegal) The undisputed master of the discipline in Africa, the country of Teranga (hospitality, in Wolof) sets its sights on the world with its solid expertise.
It’s past 6pm. Tonghor Beach at the southern end of Yoff, a village of Lebous, a fishing community said to have been founded in 1432. By the uninhabited island, imposing pirogues are moored. As the sun begins its descent into sunset, sailors unload the day’s catch. With buckets and basins, several women step into the knee-deep water to stock up.
The fishing wharf is packed, the stalls well-stocked. Tuna, sardines, sea bream, groupers, octopus, shrimp… are all on sale in a charming mess. A dozen or so carters, most with their hands on the reins of their horses, wait for the fishmongers to transport their goods.
A few children, no doubt born in this environment, swim happily. As for the plastic bag sellers and scalers, they’re not here to relax. They come and go in search of customers. Attracted by the fish offal, scavenging birds fly low. From time to time, despite the roar of an ice factory running at full speed, they land to grab flesh by the
beak.
From there, footballs roll for miles. Rhythmic games are played in small or large camps until dusk. “This is Mbenguène. We’re here every day from 5pm. Playing soccer on the beach gives us a lot of pleasure. We learned the game on the fine sand. Most of us work. But none of us wants to miss these moments for anything in the world. We often forgo traditional matches and even play during high tide. We pay to buy balls, chasubles…” says Djibril Niang, standing on an imaginary sideline.
Not far away, 70-year-old Papa Samba Ndoye, aka Elvis, sits on a plastic chair, sniffing the sea air, whose use for the human body have been scientifically proven.
“Soccer on the beach is in our DNA. When I was a kid, after lunch we’d play until nightfall,” recalls this former goalkeeper with ASC Ndénatte and coach of local club Renaissance Sportive de Yoff.
Yoff, the cradle of Senegalese beach soccer
From there, footballs roll for miles. Rhythmic games are played in small or large camps until dusk. “This is Mbenguène. We’re here every day from 5pm. Playing soccer on the beach gives us a lot of pleasure.
We learned the game on the fine sand. Most of us work. But none of us wants to miss these moments for anything in the world. We often forgo traditional matches and even play during high tide. We pay to buy
balls, chasubles…” says Djibril Niang, standing on an imaginary sideline.
According to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world’s first official beach soccer competitions were held in 1957. However, we had to wait almost 50 years for the discipline’s first unofficial World Cup. That was in 1995. In Senegal, Ibrahima Ndiaye, also known as Chita, is unanimously credited with inventing
the sport.
“I was posted to Kolda (South) as a policeman. One day, I read an article in France Football magazine about beach soccer tournaments organised by former French international Eric Cantona. On his staff was a Senegalese, Mamadou Faye, who used to play professionally for Bastia. I had the idea of doing the same, as we also have over 700 kilometers of coastline,” explains the current general manager of the Senegalese national beach soccer team.
On his return to Dakar, Chita discusses it with friends over tea.
“Everyone enjoyed it. As the Ouakam Beach where I live isn’t very wide, I preferred to go to Yoff for the very first tournament. But I fell ill on the day of the competition and my wife begged me not to go. And so beach soccer was born in Senegal. It was in 2002 on the beach at Yoff Ndénatte,” rewinds the former captain of the national soccer team (45 caps between 1976 and 1980).
« I could have stayed in the ecosystem of eleven-a-side soccer, but I preferred to bring in something else,” says Ibrahima Ndiaye, who, because getting started was difficult, armed himself with patience in his drive to gain recognition for beach soccer.
“During tournaments, I used to fill in match sheets. One day, the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) informed me of our country’s participation in the 2006 African Cup of Nations (AfCON) in beach soccer. Finally, as I was preparing the list of selected players, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) told us that we wouldn’t be able to take part in the tournament. Despite the disappointment, I continued to organize games on the beaches,” the former captain of the Police Sports Association explains.
A year later, the dream finally came true. “The late Mbaye Ndoye, then president of the FSF, was travelling and made a phone call to announce our participation in the Can. We had a good tournament, reaching the final. We lost to Nigeria. The two teams went on to represent Africa at the 2007 World Cup in Brazil. We reached the quarter-finals after losing to France,” Chita goes on.
Undisputed dominance in Africa
A fast learner, Senegal’s Teranga Lions have now won seven African beach soccer titles. They reached the top step of the podium in 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022. What’s the secret behind this brazen success?
“If we dominate beach soccer in Africa so much, it’s because we work well. But it wasn’t easy at first. I was the one who acquired the goals we used to train with. We also used them at our tournaments. I had to take out a loan to buy them. Things changed considerably in 2015,” Ibrahima Ndiaye says.
Indeed, that year, Augustin Senghor, the current head of Senegalese soccer, committed to launching a beach soccer championship.
“The opening ceremony took place at Yoff Ngaparou beach. The championship has an impact on the progress of the national team. If a player doesn’t take part, he can’t be in the national team. The directors have assumed their responsibilities by releasing resources for the development of the discipline. This justifies our performances. And we haven’t rested on our laurels,” says Mr. Ndiaye, who is in charge of beach soccer at the National Technical Department.
Between the first generation of players and the one now defending Senegal’s colours, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge.
“The players have raised their game. They are now respected. We were received by President Abdoulaye Wade in 2011 and several times by his successor Macky Sall. We have been elevated to the rank of Knight in the National Order of the Lion. The bonuses paid have enabled the players to lead a decent life. Those who thought beach soccer was just a game have realized that players can earn a good living, even if it’s not yet comparable to the earnings from eleven-a-side soccer in developed countries,” Chita adds.
Mamadou Sylla, an athletic defender, is one of those who believed in the potential of beach soccer from an early age.
“I stopped studying to devote myself to soccer. I trained morning and night. I made huge sacrifices. The results naturally followed,” confides the Union Sportive de Ouakam (USO) player, who also played for Jaraaf de Dakar
squad.
The Yoff native owes his presence in the national beach soccer team to a stroke of luck: “I was introduced to the sport by my big brother Ngalla Sylla. I used to accompany him to the national team’s training sessions. I’d pick up the balls. When I got back from competitions, he’d give me jerseys. That’s how I got interested in beach soccer. One day, a player was absent. Chita asked me to fill the void in the group.
Sometime later, the Lions were due to make a trip. “As I already had a passport at the time, I replaced a player who didn’t have one at a moment’s notice. That was in 2013. And we won the Can in Morocco. I
played almost all the matches. As the youngest player in the squad, I learned a lot from older players like Mamadou Diallo (current coach) and Victor Diagne. Beach soccer is a sport that requires endurance.
It’s harder to play on heavy sand. The playing surface isn’t flat. The ball bounces a lot. As a result, you also need to be technical and have the strength to hit the ball,’ Mamadou Sylla argues.
The World Cup in sight
“In Africa, we have nothing left to prove. We’re one of the top five teams on the planet. We need to back that up with a world title,” says Ibrahima Ndiaye, general manager of the Senegalese national beach
soccer team. Kings on the black continent, the Lions are not as conquerors at the World Cup. In eight appearances, their best performance was a semi-final against Japan (1-5) in 2021.
“We lost two major players to cards in the quarter-final against Brazil (5-4). They were outfield player Mamour Diagne and goalkeeper Alseny Ndiaye. The goals we conceded against Japan were avoidable.
These absences really penalized us. With all due respect to the Asian nation, they weren’t going to beat us. I’m convinced we’d have won the match if we’d had a full-strength team,’ Chita laments.
This setback has certainly stuck in our craw, but it’s a lesson in experience. There are things we need to rectify,” he adds. We need to get to the top of this discipline. That’s what we’re working on. At the next World Cup, you’ll see a different team. Give or take two players, the team will be the same. To win, we need to rely on experienced players. We can’t turn everything upside down.
From June 27 to 30, the Lions took part in the All-Africa Beach Games in Tunis, Tunisia. After clear victories over Kenya (12-1), Tanzania (7-1) and Libya (11-5), they fell to Morocco in the final (3-3), before bowing out on penalties (3-4). This ended an 8-year unbeaten run in Africa.
The two finalists were due to take part in the World Beach Games in August 2023. In the end, Indonesia, the host country, withdrew.
A tournament, scheduled to take place in St Petersburg (Russia) from July 19 to 24, will then serve as preparation for the World Cup to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates from February 15 to 25, 2024.
“We’re going to prepare well. The president of the FSF is particularly fond of our sport. He’s sparing no expense to ensure we’re in the best possible conditions. We’ve been training for over three months. At the Jules François Bocande Technical Development Centre in Toubab Dialaw, on the outskirts of Dakar, there are all the facilities we need: a beach soccer pitch that bears my name, two eleven-a-side soccer pitches, a weights room…” the national team’s general manager boastfully says, adding that he “hopes that this year will be the right one.”
“Our group is capable of playing in the World Cup final. That’s my conviction. I don’t think we’re far off. We’ve been able to identify certain errors that we’ve managed to erase with the support of the
FSF. In the past, preparation left a lot to be desired. We had no friendly matches before the finals. Starting in 2015, the FSF president chose to have us travel a week before the competitions so that we could acclimatize, play friendly matches and put the team in the green as soon as possible. That’s the price we have to pay to reach the top of the world rankings,” Ibrahima Ndiaye assures.
The latter, from March 29 to April 20, 2023, stayed in Nouakchott at the invitation of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (FRRIM) to help set up a national beach soccer team.
“The President of the Beach Soccer Commission and his manager had previously come to meet me in Dakar,” explains Chita, who was delighted to see the resulting team perform honorably at the Arab Beach Soccer Tournament and subsequently beat Morocco in a friendly match. The Cherifian Kingdom has also set its sights on a Senegalese for the post of coach. Ngalla Sylla, previously coach of Senegal, recently played a nasty trick on his country, a telltale sign that perhaps, the Lions’ hegemony is being challenged.
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