Beach Soccer: Black Sharks defeat Sand Elephants to book AFCON spot

The senior male National Beach Soccer team, the Black Sharks has defeated Ivorian Sand Elephants by 5-2 in the Beach Soccer African Cup of Nations qualifiers return leg held in Abidjan on Saturday.The back-to-back victory over the Ivorian side by the Black Sharks have secured them qualification to the 2024 African Cup of Nations in Egypt after a historic 10-5 aggregate from the two encounters.The Black Sharks were down by 2:1 in the first period in a well patronised match played in Abidjan Saturday.The Black Sharks of Ghana in the second period displayed a spectacular comeback to equalise through Wise Nyamadi before Captain Alex Osa increased the tally to three for Ghana in the second period.Late goals from Precious Togbor and Jude Akile sealed the win for Ghana as well as qualifying the team to the upcoming Beach Soccer AFCON tournament.Julius Caesar Bekley, the Assistant Coach of the team, in an interaction with the Ghana News Agency, said the victory has sealed the dream of qualifying to the Beac h Soccer AFCON that would be staged in Cairo, Egypt from August 26 to 31, 2024.'The journey of AFCON qualification is over, what we are going to do now is to get the team prepared adequately for the main Beach Soccer African Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt in August,' he stated.He further stated that the team was in a high spirit after securing a 5:3 resounding victory over the Sand Elephants at Keta, Emancipation Beach Soccer Arena in the first leg fixture on July 21.Bekley commended Chiefs, heads of institutions, journalists, Ghana Football Association executives, Ghana Supporters Union, Emancipation cultural troupes, fans among others for their various support that secured qualification for the team.Ghana Black Sharks would now prepare for the AFCON alongside other countries including Nigeria, Mozambique, Mauritania, Morocco, Tanzania, Malawi, as well as the defending champions Senegal and the host, Egypt.Source: Ghana News Agency