The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) announced the appointment of Senegalese technician Ngalla Sylla as coach of Moroccan national beach soccer team on Saturday.
The Senegalese technician, three-time African champion with the Lions of Senegal which he led until then, replaces the Moroccan Mustapha El Haddaoui.
The former player of US Ouakam (Senegal) has led Senegal national team since 2016, after his playing career.
With Senegal, he won titles as a player and three other African titles as a coach, the last being last May, in Saly-Portudal, Senegal.
The Senegalese technician also led his country to the semi-finals of the Beach Soccer World Cup in August 2021, in Russia, after two eliminations in the quarter-finals of the world competition.
To the local media, he explained the reasons for his departure by the desire to take up other challenges.
“I think we had to turn a page after seven years in this team. I had to decide to take on other challenges.”
” After three consecutive African Cups, a World Cup semi-final, and an Intercontinental Cup with a third place, I think I had to turn the page and go monetize my talent elsewhere, it’s part of coach life ”, said Sylla after signing a two-year contract with Morocco.
His deputy, Mamadou Diallo, commenting on this departure, spoke of “a big loss for the sport in Senegal”.
“Moroccans started courting him at the end of the AFCON played in Saly Portudal. It’s a big loss for national beach soccer, there were rumors about his departure,” he said, calling Ngalla Sylla ”an outstanding technician and a formidable worker”.
“He is a fan of beach soccer and a tireless worker, we have lost a great coach, a fine connoisseur of the discipline,” he concluded.
Source: CAF
Frederick Marfo is a sportswriter and social worker well known for his advocacy for equal chances and rights for all athletes, especially those with disabilities.
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