After Beating Sanag 2-1, Togdheer Is Somaliland’s New Soccer Champion

Hargeisa (SL Times) – Togdheer soccer team won the Somaliland regions’ cup after beating Sanag 2-1 in the tournament’s final match on Thursday. The spectacular event was held in Hargeisa football stadium, and was attended by a crowd of about 25,000 football fans. A 1-1 draw in the first half had held for most of the second half until the 81st minute when Togdheer’s no 10 striker, Fouad Mohamed Hussein sneaked in Togdheer’s second goal.

A volley by Togdheer’s midfielder Muse Osman Yusuf (Hariko) shook Sanag’s net on the 28th minute, giving the Buroa squad a lead for a few minutes. On the 36th minute, Sanag was awarded a penalty after a foul play within the 18 line box by Togdheer’s defender Jamal Abdi Adan (Janayo) against Sanag striker Saeed Mohamed Ahmed (West). The tournament’s top scorer (5 goals), Saeed West took the penalty kick, putting the ball past Togdheer’s goalkeeper into the far left end of the net.

Saeed West seems to have been marked, as players of the Togdheer side fiercely contested every ball with the striker. A number of fantastic moves by the Sanag star, during the first half, were enough to make the Togdheer squad nervous. West had apparently suffered a dislocation in the left hand, and after the penalty kick, was forced to leave the pitch on a stretcher.

Ismail Yassin Mire, Sanag’s other brilliant forward striker, was unable to break through the Togdheer line of defense. Most of Sanag players suffered from fatigue as their side had only one day of rest after meeting Hargeisa on Tuesday. The over-reliance on West also had an impact on the Sanag team’s performance.

The Soccer tournament championship was contested by Somaliland’s 6 regions. Hargeisa, Togdheer and Sool were placed under one group, while Sanag Awdal and Sahel came under the other. In the opening match, held on September 21. 2003, Togdheer won against Sool 2-1. On Monday Sept 22, a Sanag/Sahel match was interrupted as players of the two teams scuffled. A rematch, which took place on Saturday, Sept 27 ended in a 2-2 tie. However, the tournament’s technical committee disqualified, on Saturday evening, the draw score of the Sanag/Sahel match. Instead, the committee promoted Awdal as semi-finalist while deciding to select one team out of Sanag and Sahel through lottery. But this was recanted the next day. Awdal protested furiously, saying, the 2-2 draw was a pre-arranged fix so as to deprive Awdal of going to the semi-finals. The Awdal basketball team, which was widely tipped as the number one favorite to win the trophy, pulled out of the tournament, in solidarity with the Awdal soccer team.

On Monday Sept 30, Togdheer defeated Sahel 4-5 in a penalty kick shootout, after a 1-1 tie during normal time, and a 10 minute extra-time. Sanag won against Hargeisa 1-0 on Tuesday.
 

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