TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON: Group A Goes Down to the Wire
The Atlas Lions of Morocco are already through to the semifinals, but Group A of the TotalEnergies CAF Futsal Africa Cup of Nations is far from settled ahead of Friday’s decisive matches at the Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah and the Salle Ibn Yassine.
Morocco will face Libya under the floodlights at the impressive Salle Prince Moulay Abdellah at 20:00 GMT. At the same time, Zambia’s Chipolopolo and Algeria’s Fennecs will battle it out at the Salle Ibn Yassine.
The hosts secured their place in the last four with a 7-0 thrashing of Zambia on Wednesday night, with a game to spare. They had opened their title defence with a 4-0 win over Algeria, in which Youssef Jouad scored a hat-trick.
That leaves three teams chasing one semifinal place. Zambia sit on three points after beating Libya 3-1 on the opening day. Algeria, the tournament’s debutants, and Libya, the 2008 champions, are level on one point after a 2-2 draw in Rabat.
“To keep qualification in our own hands, we needed the draw today and a win against Zambia. We know it will be a difficult game,” said Algeria’s Youssef Bensellam.
Chipolopolo coach Andreas Cristoforetti is now looking ahead after the disappointing defeat against the reigning champions.
“Now we have the next game,” the Italian said. “We need to rest, regroup, and play Algeria, which is another game. We’ll try to reach the semifinals, which is our goal.”
