HIBAPRESS – Sports
The Moroccan national team qualified for the Youth World Cup final for the first time in its history after its exciting victory over its French counterpart in a penalty shootout, Wednesday evening, within the semi-final matches.
The Atlas Lions took the lead first through player Yassine Zoubeiri from a penalty in the 32nd minute, and the French national team tied the score in the 59th minute through player Lucas Michel. The match extended to extra time after the end of its original time with a tie of one goal each, before resorting to penalty kicks. The second extra time saw French national team player Nzingoula receive a second yellow card, which made his country's team complete the remaining minutes with a numerical deficiency. The Moroccan national team had signed a distinguished path in the group stage, where it won against Spain and Brazil before losing in the last round against Mexico to qualify at the top of its group. During the round of sixteen, the Atlas Lions excelled over the South Korean national team with two goals to one, before defeating America in the quarter-finals with three goals to one. The Moroccan national team will meet in the final with the winner of the match between Argentina and Canada, which will be held in the middle of this night. It is worth noting that the Moroccan national team had previously reached the semi-finals of the Youth World Cup in 2005, before losing then to Nigeria with three goals without a response, and was content with third place at that time after losing the ranking match against Brazil with two goals to one.
