In a sweeping and well-deserved victory, the Atlas Cubs, the Moroccan U-20 national team, managed to settle the Maghreb derby against Algeria with a wide win of three goals to one. The match took place today, Wednesday, as part of the second round of the North African qualifying zone for the Africa U-20 Cup finals, putting Morocco firmly on the path to qualification.
The start of the match was not easy for the Atlas Cubs, as the first minutes saw intense Algerian pressure. However, the alertness and remarkable brilliance of Moroccan goalkeeper Bouchaib Bellaachir in the tenth minute, with an outstanding save that kept a clean sheet, boosted the players’ confidence and shifted the balance in favor of the Moroccan team, gradually turning the attacking initiative to the Moroccan side.
The Moroccan siege on the Algerian goal continued until the 52nd minute, when Tarek Sami Bouhdran succeeded in breaking down the Algerian defense and opening the scoring. It did not take long before Ali Mansaf quickly doubled the lead just two minutes later, taking advantage of his teammates’ offensive momentum and continuous pressure on the opponent’s back line. Ilyas Al-Hidawi cemented the Atlas Cubs’ superiority with a decisive third goal in the 63rd minute, confirming the Moroccan team’s dominance.
The last minutes of the game saw Algerian attempts to come back and reduce the deficit, with the visiting team scoring their only goal in the 85th minute. Despite this, the goal was not enough to change the course of the match or its result, which ended in a deserved Moroccan victory, raising Morocco’s points tally and strengthening their position in the competition.
With this valuable win, the Moroccan U-20 team achieved their first victory in the qualifiers after drawing their opening match against Tunisia. This victory opens wide the door for the Atlas Cubs to advance on their way to the Africa U-20 Cup finals, where they will face Egypt in the upcoming match, while the Algerian team had drawn their first match against Tunisia and won against Libya before this defeat.
