AFCON U-17: Morocco will challenge Senegal in the final

Prolific throughout the U17 AFCON, Morocco and Mali couldn’t break the deadlock during the 90 minutes of the semi-final. It was ultimately in the penalty shootout that the Moroccans prevailed after being pushed to the brink. They will now face Senegal in the final.

Up until now, Morocco and Mali had each scored at least one goal in every match of the tournament. Even in their 2-1 defeat against Zambia, when they had already secured their spot in the quarterfinals and rotated their squad, the Lion cubs of the Atlas managed to find the back of the net.

However, on Sunday, May 14, they were unable to break through the solid defense of the Eaglet and were held goalless for 90 minutes.

Just like in the first semi-final match, the penalty shootout was required to determine the winner between the two teams. It was the Moroccans who proved to be more accurate in this exercise, winning 6-5.

The Malians will be disappointed as they had two match points since the Moroccans missed their second and third attempts. However, they couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity and later missed their eighth shot.

Zahouani seized the opportunity and scored the match-winning penalty, sending Morocco to the final. As a result, Mali, who were champions in 2015 and 2017, will not be competing in their third U17 AFCON final this year.

In the final, the Lion cubs will face Senegal, who emerged victorious over Burkina Faso (1-1, penalty shootout 5-4).

 It will be an unprecedented encounter at this stage of the competition, as neither nation has ever reached the U17 AFCON final before.

Therefore, there will be a new champion in the history books come next Friday. For Senegal, this will mark their complete dominance in all CAF competitions, except for the U23 category.

 If Morocco claims the title, they will be the first team from the North Zone to be crowned champions of Africa since Egypt in 1997 in Botswana.

Yannick H

Source: Sportnewsafrica.com