Saturday special
Egypt's football youths got two things done in Burkina Faso
The junior Pharaohs had the double pleasure of reaching the semi-final of the under-17 African football youth championship, a result which automatically meant a spot in the little version of the World Cup, writes Abeer Anwar.
A hat-trick by Emad Meteab helped Egypt stun Morocco 4-0 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Saturday in the last match of the group stage. The win put the country into the last four of the tournament where it will face Mali, who finished top of Group A. The other semi-final pits Burkina Faso against the Ivory Coast.
Regardless of how Egypt fairs in Burkina Faso starting from the semis, its heroics helped propel it to the World Cup, scheduled in March in the United Arab Emirates.
Meteab opened the scoring by converting a goal from a goalkeeping error in the 19th minute. In the 41st minute, he pounced on a cross to make it 2-0, while Ahmed Said got the third with a volley that hit the top right hand corner of the net. Meteab completed the improbable score by meeting a low cross to blast it in.
Morocco finished the game with 10 players after Fouad Taoumi was sent off for dissent in the 90th minute.
Ahmed Shoubeir, a member of the Egyptian FA and head of the country's delegation at the tournament, said his country deserved to reach the last four. "It's been many years since Egypt beat Morocco," Shoubeir said. "This 4-0 score line is convincing enough to show that we have improved. We had a bad start in the competition because we didn't play friendlies but we are confident of playing in the final," added Shoubeir, Egypt's former captain and goalkeeper.
Egypt finished its group tally with five points, second behind Group B leaders Ivory Coast who ended up with seven points. Besides Morocco, Egypt drew with Ghana and Ivory Coast in identical 1-1 scores. In both games, Egypt was forced to come from behind to tie.
Burkina Faso's Dutch coach Mart Nooij said qualification for the youth championship was a dream come true for Burkinabe fans. They secured their place after a 1-1 draw with Mali in Ouagadougou on Friday, the first time the West African country had qualified for the tournament.
"It is a little victory of qualifying for the semi-finals of this championship," Nooij said.
"I congratulate the fans for their support as the team is going to the World Cup for the first time ever. It was a hard game against Mali. Five of my players wanted to be substituted because they were tired."
Burkina Faso will travel to Bobodioulasso for their semi-final and Nooij says his team is prepared to play any opponent.
The Ivory Coast also qualified for the semi-finals after beating Ghana 3-2 in Bobodioulasso.
Mali also joined the hosts in the last four while Gabon missed out despite beating South Africa 3-1 in an exciting encounter in Bobodioulasso.
With the semi-final places decided at the championship, the line-up raises questions of when an African country will win the Youth World Cup for the first time.
Apart from Egypt, which won bronze two years ago in Argentina, Burkina Faso will be making its debut. And Ivory Coast and Mali have not been consistent in the past. Egypt and Mali have played the better football in Burkina Faso but they could struggle on the world stage.
A repeat of an all-African semi-final at the 2001 tournament in Argentina -- when Ghana played Egypt in the semi-final in Cordoba -- will be hard to emulate this time.
With the world youth championships starting in March, the four African sides have little time to prepare properly for the event. This could prove to be the continent's undoing.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 16 - 22 January 2003 (Issue No. 621)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/621/sp3.htm