Morocco Beat Egypt 2-1 To Win U-23 AFCON Tournament

The Atlas Lions of Morocco defeated Egypt to win their maiden U-23 Africa Cup of Nations title on Saturday night.

Morocco came from a goal down to clinch a 2-1 win at the Moulay Abdellah Stadium with the game requiring extra time.

Mahmoud Saber opened the scoring for the Pharaohs after just nine minutes sending a brilliant curler into the top corner to give his side the lead.

However, the midfielder’s night was cut short after he was sent off eight minutes later for a reckless challenge on Abdessamad Ezzalzouli.

Despite going a man down, Egypt were able to hold on for the minutes ahead but their defence went to sleep in the 37th minute as Yanis Begraoui snatched the equaliser for the hosts.

There were no goals again for the remainder of the first half as well as the second half of the game taking the final to extra time.

The first half of extra time, however, saw Morocco take the lead with Egypt going behind for the first time since the start of the competition.

Substitute Oussamna Targhalline was teed up by Ezzalzouli from a free kick and his strike beat the Egyptian goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

Attempts for a late equaliser were far from being fruitful with Morocco going on to win the game as well as clinch their first U-23 AFCON trophy.

Both Morocco and Egypt have booked their slots at next year’s Olympic Games to be staged in Paris with Mali the third African country following their win over Guinea in the third-place playoff game on Saturday.

The Black Meteors of Ghana crashed out of the tournament at the group stage.