TotalEnergies U17 AFCON: Chiba says Morocco will remain competitive against Zambia

Despite securing a ticket to the quarter finals of the TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and assured of a place on top of Group B, Morocco’s head coach Said Chiba insists the team will still remain competitive in their final match against Zambia in Annaba on Saturday.

Morocco have back-to-back victories against South Africa and Nigeria while Zambia are winless, and seek a victory desperately to remain in contention for a place in the last eight.

Chiba says he might rotate his squad to retain freshness in anticipation for the quarter finals, but he will still field a strong side.

“We will play with the same desire. We respect Zambia which is a good side and they have showed good performance despite their two defeats. Yes we will rotate the team but we will still retain a strong core,” the tactician said, speaking at Friday’s pre-match press conference.

Forward Zakaria Allaoui also bore the same sentiments, insisting they will look to complete the group phase with a 100pc record.

“We will approach the match just as we did the first two, with an intention to win. It will be difficult, but we will give a good account of ourselves to win,” he added.

Chiba meanwhile has maintained that the team is playing with two targets in mind; qualification for the World Cup and battling for their first ever U17 title.

A qualification to the semis will see them achieve their first target of clinching one of four available slots for this year’s FIFA World Cup.

“Our first objective is to qualify for the World Cup and after that, we can battle for the title to make the Moroccan people proud,” said Chiba.

Morocco have managed successive clean sheets in both their first two matches, and it is this defensive discipline that Chiba hopes will carry them through against Zambia.