(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles women’s national football team stumbled in its first international friendly match on Tuesday losing 1-0 to the Maldives who was playing on its home turf.

The match against the Maldives was the first among three friendly matches scheduled for the Seychelles’ side at the beginning of this year under the leadership of Singaporean coach and technical director Angeline Chua.

The two teams will meet for the second time on Friday before the Seychellois side leaves for Saudi Arabia for a friendly match on Sunday.

The friendly matches are the first real tests for the Seychellois team which has not been in action since playing against UAE in September last year in a match Seychelles lost 4-1.

The Seychelles squad is made up of 22 players which include a mix of former players and younger ones as the island nation in the western Indian Ocean does not have a proper women’s football league.

Furthermore, with restrictions on large gatherings to curb the spread of COVID-19, team sports are affected as the football league is stopped and training cannot take place which was the case for the women’s national team.

The team is currently not on the FIFA ranking as it has not yet played any FIFA-recognised matches.  

Chua said that “playing international games needs to be the norm in the planning of the women’s national team program for ranking and development of the team.”

Meanwhile, the Maldivian side is ranked 152nd in the latest FIFA world rankings, while Saudi Arabia like Seychelles is also not on the ranking.