•Burkina Faso punch their ticket for the World Championship
•Spirited Cameroon held by South Africa in highly tactical Group B tie
After their brilliant performance in the opening match of the ongoing Cup of Nations, winning 5-0 against Uganda, Morocco hoped for a second consecutive victory against Zambia to secure their spot in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Nabil Baha’s men faced strong resistance from the young Chipolopolo, who gave them very little space.
In the first half, both teams observed each other for a long time, offering very few chances of threat. The match became slightly more lively after the break, although both sides were still not very indecisive in the final third.
While Morocco continued to push for control of the game, their momentum was halted by the expulsion of their defender Hamza Mouhadi, who made an illegal challenge on Zambian forward Kelvin Mulenga Chipelu in the 75th minute. Vincent Kabore, the Burkinabe referee, used the VAR to make this decision, which could have been the turning point of the match.
Zambia nearly took advantage of their numerical superiority in added time, but substitute Gabriel Phiri’s late effort could not find the back of the net (90+5).
Despite being a player down, Morocco laboured until the end but failed to take two good opportunities in the final moments.
Ahmed Mouhoub’s shot, completely unmarked in the Zambian defense, flew well over the bar (90+7), while Ilies Belmokhtar also squandered one last chance in the final seconds, misfiring a shot in the box.
With this goalless draw, Morocco and Zambia share the top of Group A with 4 points each. Earlier, Uganda triumphed 3-0 over Tanzania and occupies third place with 3 points, while Tanzania, after two consecutive defeat remain bottom of the group.
Morocco will seek qualification against Tanzania on Sunday on Match Day 3, while Zambia will face Uganda in a crucial final day tie.
Earlier in the day, Burkina Faso secured their slot at the World Championship with a 2-1 win over Egypt. The defeat means, Egypt are out of the competition after two defeats.
Uganda also ended the stay of Tanzania in the championship with a 3-0 win, Tanzania lost their opening group stage game 4-1 to Zambia.
Cameroon and South Africa share points as their game ended 0-0.
Despite creating a number of goalscoring opportunities and dominating proceedings for the entire match, Cameroon could not break the deadlock as they were held to a goalless draw by Amajimbos.
The South Africans on the other hand were fresh from an impressive come-back victory over Egypt, a result that saw them as favourites coming into the clash.
It was however the Cameroonians Cubs who dominated the South Africans, depriving them of their usual inter-passing play that saw them put four goals past earlier in the week.
Cameroon were unlucky not to open the scoring when a well taken strike by David Bondoma came off the upright in the first half.
Bondoma, who remained a threat to the South African defense almost broke the deadlock in the dying minutes with an impressive solo run that was cut short ahead of him taking a final shot in the danger area.
While the result does not spell the end of Cameroon, it does see their campaign hang in the balance with just one point from two matches and having to face a wounded Egypt in their final Group B fixture.
Amajimbos on the other hand, who were looking at sealing a victory that would not only assure them a place in the knockout stages, but a ticket to the FIFA U-17 World Cup will have to wait for the final group matches to officially secure their place.
Group B currently sees South Africa at the top with 4 points ahead of Burkina Faso in second who face Egypt in a tie that could change the current group standings.
Cameroon’s solitary point sees them third ahead of Egypt.
Later today in Group C, Gambia will take on Somalia, both teams are in search of their first win in the competition after defeats in the hands of Senegal and Tunisia.
Gambia went down to Senegal 1-0 while Tunisia hammered Somalia 3-0 on day in Group C.
Tunisia meets Senegal in the second game of the group.
Angola takes on free scoring Côte d’Ivoire in the first game of Group D today and Central African Republic entertains Mali. Côte d’Ivoire and Mali are on a win each.
