Egypt's U-20 Team Triumphs in North Africa Championship
The Egyptian U-20 national team has emerged victorious in the North African Championship, a qualifier for the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, by defeating Algeria 2-0 in the final match. This victory, combined with Libya's 3-2 win over Morocco, ensured Egypt's place at the tournament. The race for qualification remained competitive until the very last matchday, with Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria all vying for crucial points. Ultimately, Egypt clinched the top spot in the qualifying phase with a total of 9 points, followed by Morocco with 7 points and Algeria with 4 points. Libya, with their win, secured their first points in the qualifying campaign. The next edition of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations is set to take place in Ghana in February.
Egypt Claims Leadership: U-20 Team Crowned North African Champions
As the Egyptian team prepared for their decisive match against Algeria, their focus was fixed on securing their qualification and finishing at the top of the group. They achieved this goal with a convincing 2-0 win. Mahmoud Salah opened the scoring for Egypt in the 22nd minute, giving the home side an early advantage, which they maintained until halftime. In the 81st minute, a goal by Mohamed Raafat was disallowed due to a collision with an Algerian defender, leading to protests from Egypt's coach, Wael Riad, who was subsequently sent off. However, the Egyptian team remained unfazed by this incident, and Anas Roshdy scored the second goal in the 83rd minute, solidifying Egypt's victory and their leadership in the qualifying phase with 9 points.
In another match during the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Libya achieved a thrilling 3-2 victory over Morocco, their only win in the entire qualifying campaign. Morocco initially took the lead in the 18th minute with a powerful header from Khaled Kasbi. Libya equalized in the 30th minute with a precise header from Moussa Al Agouri. Morocco regained the lead before halftime with a penalty from Abderrahman Makkari in the 36th minute. In the second half, Libya extended their advantage to 3-1 with a goal from Jaafar Tarek in the 67th minute. Despite multiple near misses, Morocco managed to narrow the deficit in the 79th minute with a strong shot from Mouncef Mohamed. Prior to the last matchday, Morocco had already secured their qualification for the final stage of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations after defeating Egypt 2-0 in their fourth match.
As reported by es-us.noticias.yahoo.com.
