The National U17 eleven managed, Wednesday at the Mohamed Hamlaoui stadium in Constantine, to outclass its Algerian counterpart for the quarter-finals of the CAN U17.
A victory that allowed the Cubs not only to be part of the wealthy quartet who will compete for the last square of the competition, but to win the FIFA World Cup of the category.
Victory with the art and manner of this young Moroccan team, driven by an excellent coach Saïd Chiba who, like his friend Walid Regragui, wants to bring out the best in his foals in order to go all the way.
In front of the Algerian selection pushed by its public, it was not won in advance. Except that the Moroccan Eleven, well in place, approached the debates on the right foot, announcing its intention to seal the fate of this part as soon as possible. Opting for cleverly orchestrated counterattacks, EN found the net at the half-hour mark through striker Zakaria Ouazzane, a member of Ajax Amsterdam.
A goal in advance that the partners of keeper Taha Benrhozil knew how to preserve, by stifling the actions of the opposing team. Better, the Moroccan players saw their efforts rewarded in the 57th mn following an achievement by the same Ouazzane, author of a double and crowned best player of the match.
At 2 to 0, the carrots seemed well cooked for the Algerians who conceded a third goal, signed Adam Chakir four minutes from the end of regulation time.
At the end of this opposition, disputed in a spirit of fair play, Saïd Chiba said he was happy and proud for his proteges who released the kind of match that was needed. Adding in a statement relayed by the site cafonline.com that “the World Cup is a dream for players. We have a chance to compete against teams that are considered leaders in world football and it is absolutely good for their development.
Going to the World Cup for them at this age is also a huge motivation for their careers”, knowing that national football already has a participation in the World Cup in 2013 in the United Arab Emirates.
For the national coach, the feat of the Atlas Lions who had reached the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup “was a very good motivating factor for the Moroccan U17 internationals. And now, the qualification of this team for the World Cup is a testament to the work done by the Federation in particular with the grassroots programs. We have seen that their efforts have paid off and now these players are the future of the senior team,” said the tactician.
On the game itself, Said Chiba said that “they (the players) were helped enormously by scoring an early goal, something that calmed their nerves and made them play more comfortably (…) We knew that this would be a tough game, but once we scored first it helped us calm down and be more proactive.
Of course, Algeria are a good team, but we intended to create more and use the spaces they left”. And to conclude: “We plan differently for each game. In the group stage, we played against very tough and physical teams (Win against South Africa: 2-0 and Nigeria: 1-0 and loss against Zambia: 1-2) and we had to use a different strategy. Against Algeria it was a more open match and we also changed our strategy accordingly”.
Note that during the semi-finals of this Algerian CAN scheduled for next Sunday, the National Eleven will have to respond to the winner of the Mali-Congo match to take place yesterday, while the second meeting will oppose Senegal to Nigeria or Burkina Faso.
Senegal had qualified at this advanced stage of the competition after beating the South African national team 5-0.
Mohamed Bouarab
