- Senegal thrashed South Africa 5-0
- Morocco stunned hosts Algeria 3-0
- Both have qualified for the FIFA World Cup
Senegal and Morocco have both progressed to the semi-finals of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations and by extension qualified for the FIFA World Cup, after picking victories in their quarter final matches in Algeria.
Morocco stunned hosts Algeria 3-0 in Constantine while Senegal picked up a massive 5-0 result against South Africa in Algiers.
In Constantine, Algeria’s hopes of shining on home soil were shuttered by Nortyh African rivals Morocco who were a class above them.
Zakaria Ouazane scored a goal in either half with Adam Chakir adding a late third for the Atlas Cubs.
Ouazane broke the deadlock after 28 minutes when he headed into the bottom right after a cross from Ayman Ennair.
After scoring, Morocco played with more confidence, keeping possession and moving up and down the field as a block. They were however almost caught on the counter in the 35th minute.
From a corner, the ball was cleared to Moselm Anatouf’s path, the latter heading it into the run of strike partner Ziad Mohamed.
Morocco keeper with brilliant save
However, Morocco keeper Taha Benrhozil was quick off his line, making his body big at the edge of the box and blocking the effort one on one.
In the second half, Morocco needed just 12 minutes to double their tally, Abdel Hamid Maali sending Ouazane through with a peach of a ball, the latter running between the two central defenders to shoot low for his brace.
Morocco put the icing on the cake and sent the stadium into pindrop silence with the third goal in the 86th minute, Chakir shooting brilliantly on the half volley from a cross on the right.
Earlier on in Algiers, a pair of first half own goals by each of South Africa’s central defenders followed up by Mamadou Sadio’s goal and skipper Amara Diouf’s brace saw the Teranga Cubs continue with their impressive performance in the competition.
Waylon Renecke was unfortunate to turn the ball into his own net in the 36th minute as he tried to cut out a headed ball just inside the six yard box.
Another own goal for South Africa
Three minutes later, his central defense partner, skipper Benjamin Wallis, also put the ball into his own net as he tried to clear out after the keeper had spilled a freekick from Diouf.
Senegal made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute when Sadio scored with a brilliant half volley from the edge of the box after Abdou Aziz Fall had teed up the ball for him.
With a 3-0 cushion at halftime and a complete dominance that had seen South Africa fail to land a ball on target, the West Africans had the job half done.
In the second half, they needed just nine minutes to get their fourth, though it had to be given by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) which was being used at the tournament for the first time.
A run by Omar Sall on the left caught the South African backline off balance, the latter squaring for Diouf to slam home from inside the box. He had initially been flagged offside, but upon review, the VAR gave the goal.
In the 71st minute, Diouf who had enjoyed a brilliant performance capped it off with a brace when he headed home at the backpost after a brilliant cross from Ibrahima Diallo found his perfect run.
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