LUSAKA — Egypt U-23 team has become the second nation to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations after holding Zambia to a goalless draw at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola, Zambia.
The Young Pharaohs join hosts Morocco in this year’s tournament, with a 2-0 victory on aggregate.
The Under-23 tournament will be staged in Morocco from June 23-July 8 and contested by eight teams.
The Egyptians had won the first-leg in their backyard 2-0 and it is that result that sailed them through against a hard fighting Zambian side.
In the return fixture, Zambia needed to match Egypt’s result from the first-leg to at least force the game to penalties or win by a three-goal margin. However, they fell short on home soil.
They had pushed for opportunities to score from the first minute, with John Kosamu having a chance earlier on with a shot from distance which flew over the bar.
In the second-half, they stepped up their pursuit of just a single goal that would spark their confidence, but they couldn’t hit the net with Joshua Mutale striking over from distance while Happy Nsiku saw his effort well collected by the keeper.
Elsewhere, Sierra Leone head coach John Keister has lauded his team for an improved approach after a 2-0 win over Sao Tome put their hopes of qualifying to the 2023 AFCON on track.
The Sierra Leonians learnt their lessons from last week’s draw where they twice had to come from behind to pick out a point against Sao Tome, and in the return fixture played in Agadir, they put in an improved first half performance to clinch three points.
With a win on match day four, Sierra Leone have moved to five points at third in Group A, one behind Nigeria who face Guinea Bissau in the other group match.
“I felt we did very well today. In the first half we set up really well because Sao Tome is not a bad side. We had to change a few things around the first leg and we started better compared to the first match,” Keister said after the match.
“The message to the boys was very clear that if we could start this first half the way we played the second half last weekend, we stood a chance,” Keister added.
His sentiments were echoed by skipper Steve Caulker. “It was a must win for us especially after we saw the Nigeria result. We know that we have to win all three games. I believe in the squad, I believe in the coach and I hope we can make the nation proud.”
First-half goals from Abubakar Samura and Alhassan Koroma gave the Leone Stars maximum points and a huge result on their dream to the Cup of Nations.
They got into the lead just seven minutes into the game when Samura powered the ball home from inside the box after Mustapha Bundu nodded down a freekick from the left.
Bundu almost doubled the tally on the quarter hour mark when he found some shooting space on the right, but the effort came off the outside of the post.
They eventually doubled their lead after 27 minutes when Koroma struck a long range shot on his left foot, the venomous strike slipping under the keeper’s arms.
In the second-half, Sao Tome came back stronger and pushed to get back into the game. They however couldn’t hit the target and the closest they came was when Hernane Spirito picked out a cutback just outside the six yard area but blew his shot over.
Sao Tome’s hopes of qualification are now almost blown as they sit bottom of the group with a single point.
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