African juniors set to showcase future skill and flair


The taste of the future flair, flamboyance, skill and artistry of the African game gets on show from this weekend when the cubs of the Atlas Lions – in the backyard of their den – square off against an equally vicious rising opponent, the cubs of Les Panthères of Gabon in the opening clash of what promises to be an explosive and thrilling championship of the 10th CAN Under 17 games.


The setting could not have been any better than the North African environs of Casablanca’s Complexe Sportif Mohammed V stadium for the opener. With the Atlantic cool wind breezing from the West and the Mediterranean further north, the clash of the cubs of Morocco and Gabon will be followed by another interesting fixture between Botswana’s Junior Zebras and Carthage Eaglets of Tunisia. A showcase of Moroccan cultural, art and music will precede the footy action.

With the two-week tournament underway and Casablanca’s opening matches done, the tourist resort of Marrakech will get a share of the football focus on Sunday with group B games that will see Congo; Cote d’Ivoire and past winners Ghana and Nigeria battle for the top two positions.

At stake at this tournament is not only the chance to replace Burkina Faso (who did not qualify to defend their title) as the reigning Africa champions but the semi-finalists will get to represent the continent at the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in United Arab Emirates from 17 October to 8 November 2013.

Since it was incepted in 1995, the tournament has been curving a name as the breeding ground for future African stars. The 10th edition is certainly one that can be expected to bring to the fore talents that are set to follow in the footsteps of now African superstars who first got a taste of the international platform and recognition from championships gone by. Talents such as John Obi Mikel, the Chelsea and Nigeria star, Marseille’s Andre Ayew, Anthony Yeboah, Morocco’s Yousuf Hadji, Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria, Nee Lamptey among a long of stars all announced the richness of their talents at CAF U-17 championships.


Therefore; other than the contest for the final match on 27th April and places to the UAE, there will be no doubting the attention scouts will be paying to what will be served on the football pitches of Casablanca and Marrakech.



Casablanca Saturday 13th April

Group ‘A’
15:00 Morocco vs. Gabon
18:00 Tunisia vs. Gabon


Marrakech Sunday 14th April

Group ‘B’
15:00 Congo vs. Cote d’Ivoire
18:00 Nigeria vs. Ghana


Past Winners of the CAF U-17 Championship

2011 Burkina Faso
2009 Gambia
2007 Nigeria
2005 Gambia
2003 Cameroon
2001 Nigeria
1999 Ghana
1997 Egypt
1995 Ghana

http://www.cafonline.com/competition/can-u-17_2011/news/16814-african-juniors-set-to-showcase-future-skill-and-flair.html

Group Stage
04-13-2013 Morocco 15:00 Gabon
04-13-2013 Tunisia 18:00 Botswana
04-16-2013 Gabon 15:30 Tunisia
04-16-2013 Botswana 18:30 Morocco
04-19-2013 Morocco 18:30 Tunisia
04-19-2013 Gabon 18:30 Botswana
04-14-2013 Congo 15:00 Cote d'Ivoire
04-14-2013 Nigeria 18:00 Ghana
04-17-2013 Cote d'Ivoire 15:30 Nigeria
04-17-2013 Ghana 18:30 Congo
04-20-2013 Congo 15:00 Nigeria
04-20-2013 Cote d'Ivoire 15:00 Ghana

Morocco ready to make the most of home advantage

On the eve of the opening match of the 2013 CAF U-17 Championship hosts Morocco is keen to build on home advantage start with a positive result. "This is a tournament on home soil and we need to lead by example and go for it” says Mohamed Benjadi assistant coach of the Moroccan U17 side. "The players do not have a big responsibility but it is the technical staff who are on the spot it is us who will be on the front line of the battle.”

The Atlas Cubs were encouraged by two positive results against Niger (3-2, 4-0) in the preparation. Benjadi is confident in his group which he thinks has qualities, interesting individualities, talent, and a technical ability to do well. Much is expected of the pool of young players from European training centers, especially Nabil Jaïdi (Anderlecht) of Bouazzati (Borussia Dortmund) or Serroukh Anas (Barcelona). Eleven (11) other players are in the same case, being based abroad which makes it a total of about two thirds of the team. Will it be enough to impress Gabon, Botswana and Tunisia, their opponents in the first round? At that age it takes more to be impressed. Instead it is a source of motivation for opponents determined to show they are better than the "pro- apprentice."

All this makes it more difficult for Moroccans it seems but Mohamed Benjadi is already thinking a little further than the first round. "Our priority, he insists, is to reach the semi-finals. The semi-final is the gateway to the World Cup. “Teams they fear most are specialists of youth football in Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, not necessarily in that order. The flood of goals in the qualifiers by the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria does not fail to impress, twenty-one goals in six matches.

Moroccan is hoping to start with a good result against Gabon in the opening match on Saturday afternoon at the stadium Mohamed V in Casablanca. The barometer will be the opener for the ambitions of each team and from that result each will try and build from that platform.

http://www.cafonline.com/competition/can-u-17_2011/news/16829-morocco-ready-to-make-the-most-of-home-advantage.html

Youngsters Set Africa Aglow In Morocco

The cream of Africa’s junior players is expected to come to the top at the 10th CAF U17 championship, which kicks off on Saturday in Morocco.

The competition has produced stars like Stephen Appiah, Ossei Kuffour, Andrew Ayew, Nee Odartey Lamptey, Frank Amankwah, Daniel Addo, Anthony Yeboah(Ghana), Yousuf Hadji(Moroco), Kanu Nwankwo, Celestine Babayaro, Macauley Christantus,Nduka Ugbade, Mikel Obi (Nigeria), just to mention a few.

This competition will produce four qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in October and it is also expected to roll out stars that will take the world by storm in the near future. Nigeria, who have been absent for the last two editions in 2009 and 2011 are looking forward to win their third title at this level and they will open their campaign with what is expected to be a cracking game against perennial rivals Ghana on Sunday at the Grand Stade de Marrakech.

• FLASHBACK: Action from Golden Eaglets of Nigeria and Guinea in one of the qualities for Africa Junior Championship
Nigeria and Ghana have won the continental diadem and are both favourite to lift the trophy in Morocco. Both West African countries have also won the FIFA U17 World Cup with Nigeria having won it three times, while the Black Satellites have done so twice.

The Golden Eaglets are yet to lose any game, be it qualifier or friendly, prior to this tournament and are therefore rated among the favourites for glory in Morocco.

The Nigeria youngsters play a very exciting passing game similar to mighty Barcelona and drawn against another top football country Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo in Group B.
The Eaglets were African champions in 2001 and 2007, beating Burkina Faso 3-0 and Togo 1-0 after extra time, respectively.

They eliminated Niger, Guinea and Mali to qualify for this competition and then trained in Doha, Qatar, for a month. Hosts Morocco will open the competition against Gabon on Saturday at the Complexe Sportif Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.

Tunisia and debutants Botswana are the other teams in Group A.
Interestingly, defending champions Burkina Faso are not in Morocco to defend their crown they won two years ago.
The semi-finals are fixed for April 23 with the championship game to be played four days later.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/04/12/youngsters-set-africa-aglow-in-morocco/

[size=18pt]African finalists eye four U-17 spots[/size]

For the eight teams involved in the Africa U-17 Championships, which begins this weekend in Morocco and concludes on 27 April, there is plenty at stake. Not only will the winner be crowned the African champion, but the four semi-finalists will qualify for the showpiece event of U-17 football: the FIFA U-17 World Cup United Arab Emirates 2013.

The 10th African U-17 championships will be held in the cities of Casablanca and Marrakech, with the 67,000-seater Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca hosting Group A – made up of the hosts, as well as Tunisia, Gabon and Botswana - plus a semi-final. The somewhat smaller Stade de Marrakech (45,000), hosts Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Congo in Group B, as well as a semi-final, the play-off for third place and the final. FIFA.com looks ahead to the competition.

African giants aim to return to winning ways
Not too long ago, Ghana and Nigeria not only dominated the African U-17 scene, they were also heavyweights on the global scene, winning five titles between them and finishing runners-up a further five times. The only country to match them was Brazil, whose record of three wins, two second places and a third and fourth place sandwiches the South American side between the Golden Eaglets (three wins and three second places) and Ghana (two wins, two second places and a third and fourth place). But of late, the two West African rivals have found the going much tougher and neither side managed to qualify for the last two finals of the African championships, though Nigeria entered the 2009 edition as hosts.

Disappointingly for them, the draw in Egypt pitted them not only against each other but with the Congolese and Ivorians, who finished third and fourth respectively at the 2011 championships in Rwanda two years ago. Black Starlets' coach Paa Kwesi Fabin has called up a squad of 23 home-based players and embarked on a training camp in Italy ahead of traveling to Morocco. A 6-2 victory against the reserve side of Serie B club Novara, suggests that the side is well prepared to take on the tasks awaiting them.

The Nigerians too, have reason to be optimistic, as the Nigerian Football Federation set up a training camp at Qatar's Aspire academy. The team played two friendly matches during their time in the country which will be hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ and scored a convincing 7-1 victory against the Aspire U-18 side before beating Al Sadd, for whom former Spanish international Raul Gonzalez plays. Coach Manu Garba said that the game against the two-time Asian champions was the best he had seen his team play. "We have prepared well for the forthcoming competition. Our goals are clear, we want to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup as African champions and then we will return to Aspire to prepare for the World Cup," he said confidently.

Congo and Côte d'Ivoire were two of Africa's representatives at the last FIFA U-17 World Cup and both managed to escape the group phase. The Ivorians, for whom Golden Boot winner Souleymane Coulibaly scored an astonishing nine goals in four matches, were knocked out 3-2 by France in the Round of 16, while Congo lost their match at the same stage against eventual runners-up Uruguay 2-1.

North African rivalry resumed
The hosts Morocco, who with Gabon are making their first-ever appearance at the finals of the African U-17 championships, have called up a squad including several players who play for the youth teams of some of the biggest European clubs, such as goalkeeper Anwar Bourmila, who plays for Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund defender Mohamed El Bouazzati and striker Zakaria El Azzouzi, who plays his club football for Ajax Amsterdam. Morocco are expecting their main rivals to be fellow North Africans Tunisia, who have twice qualified for the world stage (1993 and 2007).

En route to the finals, Tunisia had to first overcome a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of qualifying in Ethiopia, winning the return match 5-1. They then ousted the defending champions Burkina Faso 4-2 on aggregate. Rookies Gabon had a similarly difficult road to Morocco, having lost their first qualifying match in Angola 4-1. However, they also came back strong to trounce the Angolans 4-0 in the return leg before seeing off Benin 3-2 on aggregate.

Botswana, who are the only southern African country in the competition, had an even longer qualifying route, having started in the preliminary round. The Botswana team won all three ties on penalties - eliminating Malawi, Rwanda and Algeria. Although it is their third appearance at the finals, they are still waiting for their first win - having lost all six matches they have played previously. That is something that the players are keen to change says midfielder Kabelano Mooketsane. “We can beat any team and we can qualify for the World Cup in UAE,” said the Gaborone Football Academy player.

http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/news/newsid=2057036/index.html

Teams and Fixtures

Nigerian team suffers MRI blow! NFF is trying to cover up, but the MRI scan has caught out THREE of our players. Personally, I am happy. I think looking at the team pics, it is possible to tell who those 3 are. The rest look really young and are likely true U17.
Team plays Ghana today at 7pm 9ja time.

ola_pluto: Nigerian team suffers MRI blow! NFF is trying to cover up, but the MRI scan has caught out THREE of our players. Personally, I am happy. I think looking at the team pics, it is possible to tell who those 3 are. The rest look really young and are likely true U17.
Team plays Ghana today at 7pm 9ja time.

Where are you hearing this "rumor" from?

honeric01:

Where are you hearing this "rumor" from?

This is how Thisday report it: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/-nigerians-ivoirians-congolese-fail-mri-test/144894/

are de time in nigeria format

ola_pluto:
This is how Thisday report it: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/-nigerians-ivoirians-congolese-fail-mri-test/144894/

ok, thank you. sucks sha, all these test here and there is suppose to achieve what?

Nine goal fest on CAF U-17 finals opening day in Casablanca

The opening day of the 10th CAF U-17 Championship finals taking place in Morocco produced nine goals from the double header matches played at Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca. Morocco scored four in defeating Gabon 4-1 while in the second match Tunisia got the better of Botswana by a 3-1 score line.
The Atlas Cubs made up of players largely from football academies in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Spain has huge expectations on them from many and as coach Abdellah Elidrissi put it after the match , "they had never played together a game against another national team." It however did not really look that way at the beautifully manicured grass at Mohamed V Stadium where the Cubs did not take long to strike against the Baby Panthers of Gabon. Morocco’s first goal came in the seventh minute through Hamza Sakhi and three minutes later they had a second.

The home side was dominating the game with team captain Nabil Jaadi at the center of the majority of Morocco’s good play. The Atlas Cubs were passing the ball, moving and creating chances with character and precision much to the delight of the crowd. The Moroccans played with cohesion and solidity and unity that defied a team playing together in a competitive match for the first time. After dominating the first period in the second half the Gabonese two goals down upped the ante and competed more. But the next goal came from the Moroccans through Bnou Marzouk with a header from a free-kick. According to the coach “We wanted to score more goals and not concede but in the end you have to be happy with today’s work, performance and result. Our target remains reaching the semi-finals and it’s a good start towards that goal”
Gabon whose passing game was growing and improving as the game wore on pulled one back when their captain Guy Reteno was fouled in the box and up stepped Eyamba Obouoyi to score the spot kick. Moroccans made it four in the added on time when Jaadi dribbled through before slotting past the keeper.
Meanwhile the Baby Panthers of Gabon seemed to have been shocked by Morocco’s fast and furious start to the game and did not quite recover from the quick and early punches. Gabon coach Rigobert Nzamba said after the match "We succumbed to stage fright and did not play to our capabilities at all, yes, my youthful side did not handle the occasion of playing in U-17 Championship finals well and were scared today. We lost to a better team today. The difference between the two teams, was that Morocco has the presence of many players in their ranks coming from training centers in Europe with the pace and quality of daily work with their clubs. Our players are, admittedly, a little behind on some of those attributes and systems of everyday work and training ".

Tunisia vs. Botswana

In the second match of the day in Group A it was almost a similar story with Tunisia establishing dominance just like Morocco in their game against Botswana. The Tunisians’ technical mastery was tested against the athleticism of the Young Zebras of Botswana. According to Abdelay Ben Soltane, the coach of the Carthage Eaglets “Carthage Eaglets. I expected a physical game with their direct play, their fighting spirit, their physical condition” Soltane was pleased with the way his charges played in particular how they started.
It took the Eaglets mere 30 seconds to be on the score sheet through Mohamed Ben Larbin and the same player converted a penalty three minutes later to make it 2-0. The Young Zebras eventually steadied the ship and played as if nothing had happened in the opening minutes. The Southern Africans reduced the arrears through Tumisang Orebonye and the score was 2-1 at half time.
Botswana coach Kagiso Kobedi ‘s side battled on in the second looking for the equaliser but it was Tunisia who scored again in the 50th minute through Nidhal Ben Salem .So after the opening day’s proceedings in Group A Morocco lead the standing , followed by Tunisia a, then Botswana and Gabon On Tuesday 16th April hosts Morocco will take on Botswana while Tunisia and Gabon battle it out in the other match. With the semi-finalists at this tournament automatically qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in United Arab Emirates in October/November 2013, Morocco and Tunisia will approach Tuesday games fully aware that another win could secure that semi-final place, while for Botswana and Gabon a second loss spells the end of a semi-final dream.

The action turns to Group B in Marrakech for the opening games on Sunday 14t April, featuring Congo vs. Ivory Coast first and then Nigeria vs. Ghana.

Tunisia beat Botswana at CAF U-17 Championship

Tunisia opened their Group A account at the 10th CAF U-17 Championship finals with a 3-1 win over Botswana in Casablanca on Saturday. The North African side scored the first goal , literally from kick-off in the first minute and had added a second by the 5th minute. Botswana reduced the deficit before half time. Tunisia then sealed all three points with a third goal in the second half.

http://www.cafonline.com/competition/can-u-17_2011/news/16836-tunisia-beat-botswana-at-caf-u-17-championship-finals.html

Morocco kick off U-17 Championship with a win

Hosts, Morocco opened the 10th CAF U-17 Championship finals with a commanding 4-1 win over Gabon in Casablanca on Saturday. A swift and determined start by the Atlas Cubs saw them score two early goals. The score was 2-0 at half time . Later in the second half Morocco added a third before Gabon pulled one back from the penalty spot before Morocco scored a late fourth goal

http://www.cafonline.com/competition/can-u-17_2011/news/16834-morocco-kick-off-u-17-championship-with-a-win.html

dagbo: are de time in nigeria format

Match kicks off at 7pm Nigerian time. Adjust that to wherever you are.

Pls any Nigerian station showing U 17 match?

Nig 3-0 Ghana half time

Firstt half...Nigeria 3-0 Ghana

First half...Nigeria 3-0 Ghana

half time now..heard the match is live on NTA.

Anyone watching it?


Isaac Success......1
Bernard Bulbwa..2
Isaac Success......3

Here it is... http://www.lc2international.tv/

Half Time: Nigeria (3) - (0) Ghana

Enjoy!!

isomadtech: Pls any Nigerian station showing U 17 match?

NTA's showing it.

honeric01:

NTA's showing it.

oga honeric01,pls create another thread for this match..it is special..

Lets toast Alomo to my ghananian friends.

gbosaa:

oga honeric01,pls create another thread for this match..it is special..

Lets toast Alomo to my ghananian friends.

one's already on the front page.

I'm mobile right now.

Thanks. Second half in progress.

These boys are good. The have good passes and the midfield is tight.

o boy p. Success no go kill person o!

The North African duo of Morocco and Tunisia have qualified for the semifinals, and the U-17 World Cup.
Tunisia defeated Gabon by 4-2, while hosts- Morocco, beat Botswana by 3-0.

CFCfan: The North African duo of Morocco and Tunisia have qualified for the semifinals, and the U-17 World Cup.
Tunisia defeated Gabon by 4-2, while hosts- Morocco, beat Botswana by 3-0.

Nigeria should be qualifying today too.

my concern basically is not about Nigeria qualifying but the ability for our boys to excel during foreign competitions
http://champions.sportsblog.com/

paduskinosa: my concern basically is not about Nigeria qualifying but the ability for our boys to excel during foreign competitions
http://champions.sportsblog.com/

i tip the boys to go far internationally.


@topic

Tunisia 4 Gabon 2
Morocco 3 Boswana 0