The semifinal line-up is complete in the boys' and girls' competitions at the inaugural 2022/23 CAF African Schools Football Championship Continental Final after the completion of the group stages at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban, South Africa on Friday.
The third day of the competition brought more goals and plenty of action, and sets things up perfectly for the knockout rounds that will be staged at the same venue on Saturday as a first continental champion is crowned in the boys' and girls' competitions.
Boys' pool winners, Guinea's powerful CS Ben Sekou Sylla, will face Malawian side Salima Secondary in their semifinal at 09h30 (07h30 GMT), while the second knockout fixture sees home favourites Clapham High School take on CEG Sainte Rita from Benin at the same time.
CS Ben Sekou Sylla won the boys' pool with 10 points from their four games, followed by Clapham High School (8), CEG Sainte Rita (6), Salima Secondary (4) and Algeria's Ecole Belawech Boumerde (0).
CS Ben Sekou Sylla beat Salima 1-0 in the group stages on Thursday, while Clapham defeated Sainte Rita 2-0 on the opening day. The losers of those semifinals will meet in the bronze medal match at 11h30 (09h30 GMT) and the victors battle it out for the title at 13h30 (11h30 GMT).
CS Ben Sekou Sylla completed the biggest win of the competition so far when they defeated Ecole Belawech Boumerde 12-0 in their final pool match to secure top spot.
The Algerians had to play four games on the day and battled to cope with the physicality of the Guinea side, were scored their goals via hattricks for Amara Keita and Mohamed Sacko, braces for Kemoko Mara and Ansoumane Camara, and further strikes from Almany Kake and Sekou Sylla.
CS Ben Sekou Sylla also played to an entertaining 2-2 draw with Clapham High School that was intriguing from start to finish. Their goals came from Ibrahima and Mohamed Sacko, while the South African side netted through Kgaogelo Monanyane and Ntokozo Madondo.
"Our strategy is very simple, this tournament involves kids, and you have to play with the ball, with control and make short passes. You don't dribble too much. If you play like that, you can win games," CS Ben Sekou Sylla coach Aly Badara Cisse told CAFOnline.
"We used our system (3-3-1) to adapt the opponent. When we are defending with this system, we can win the ball. When we are attacking we can have many players up front.
"In my team it is not allowed to play long balls. You have to play with the ball, short passes, and have to stay high in the opponent's half." He praised the efforts of CAF to revive schools football on the African continent.
"This is an important tournament; it lays a good foundation. We thank the Confederation of African Football, they have understood that we have to take football back into the schools.
"If we take football to the schools, we can improve and develop the game."
Katleho Kutumela scored a brace of goals and Mosa Maloisane added the third as Clapham High School defeated Ecole Belawech Boumerde 3-0 to take second spot in the pool.
In other matches on Friday, Blessings Sakala and Innocent Banda scored for Salima Secondary as they beat Ecole Belawech Boumerde 2-0. And the Algerians also went down 4-1 to CEG Sainte Rita. Adriano Ahouissanou, Nazirou Arouna, Soumayirou Tchaouna and Gedeon Djossou got the goals for the Benin side, while Anis Agraniou got a consolation for the north Africans.
Head coach of Sainte Rita, Severin Danha, said he was satisfied with his team's performances and excited to have qualified for the semifinals. "It is good that we have qualified for the knockouts. We had a good result even though it wasn't an easy game," he said. "We are very happy to be participating in this tournament and now that we have now qualified for the next round, I am even more proud of my team."
The semifinal line-up in the girls' competition is also complete following the end of the group stage on Friday.
Tanzania's Fountain Gate School and Scan Aid from The Gambia had already sealed their places from Group A, and they are joined by Morocco's Ecole Omar IBN Khatab and CSG De Mfilou of Congo from Group B.
The latter had two games to play on Friday and won them both by 1-0 scorelines, defeating CEG Cobly of Benin and Seychelles' Anse Boileau. The winner on each occasion came via the penalty spot from captain Dornella Nzeli.
Fountain Gate School will face will now meet CSG De Mfilou in Saturday's first semifinal at 08h30 (06h30 GMT), while Ecole Omar IBN Khatab tackle Scan Aid at the same time. Head coach of CEG De Mfilou, Berjona Mbemba, said they would give it their all in the semifinals.
"This is an exciting tournament that is giving our girls the exposure they need to grow in football. People back home are also encouraging us to do well, and we are happy to have reached this stage of the tournament," Mbemba said.
The losers of those semifinals will meet in the bronze medal match at 10h30 (08h30 GMT) and the victors battle it out for the title at 12h30 (10h30 GMT).
The teams are vying to be crowned champions of Africa, but also for the USD 300,000 first prize in each competition. The Motsepe Foundation has donated USD 10-million to boost the competition in its inaugural year.
BOYS' COMPETITION RESULTS
Group A
Ecole Belawech Boumerde 0 Salima Secondary 2 (Blessings Sakala, Innocent Banda)
CS Ben Sekou Sylla 2 (Ibrahima Sacko, Mohamed Sacko) Clapham High School 2 (Kgaogelo Monanyane, Ntokozo Madondo)
CEG Sainte Rita 4 (Adriano Ahouissanou, Nazirou Arouna, Soumayirou Tchaouna, Gedeon Djossou) Ecole Belawech Boumerde 1 (Anis Agraniou)
Ecole Belawech Boumerde 0 CS Ben Sekou Sylla 12 (Kemoko Mara 2, Amara Keita 3, Mohamed Sacko 3, Almany Kake, Ansoumane Camara 2, Sekou Sylla)
Clapham High School 3 (Katleho Kutumela 2, Mosa Maloisane) Ecole Belawech Boumerde 0
GIRLS' COMPETITION RESULTS
Group B
CEG de Mfilou 1 (Dornella Nzeli pen) CEG Cobly 0
CEG de Mfilou 1 (Dornella Nzeli pen) Anse Boileau 0
TOURNAMENT STATISTICS
BOYS' COMPETITION
Matches played: 10
Goals scored: 35
Biggest win: Ecole Belawech Boumerde 0 CS Ben Sekou Sylla 12 (Group A, April 7)
Most goals in a game: 12 - Ecole Belawech Boumerde 0 CS Ben Sekou Sylla 12 (Group A, April 7)
FINAL STANDINGS
GROUP A P W D L GF GA GD PTS
CS Ben Sekou Sylla (Guinea) 4 3 1 0 17 2 15 10
Clapham High School (South Africa) 4 2 2 0 8 3 5 8
CEG Sainte Rita (Benin) 4 2 0 2 6 5 1 6
Salima Secondary School (Malawi) 4 1 1 2 3 4 -1 4
Ecole Belawech Boumerde (Algeria) 4 0 0 4 1 21 -20 0
GOALSCORERS
5 goals - Mohamed Sacko (CS Ben Sekou Sylla)
4 - Amara Keita (CS Ben Sekou Sylla)
3 - Kemoko Mara (CS Ben Sekou Sylla)
2 - Ansoumane Camara (CS Ben Sekou Sylla), Gedeon Djossou (CEG Sainte Rita), Katleho Kutumela (Clapham High School), Blessings Sakala (Salima Secondary), Kabelo Sibanda (Clapham High School)
1 - Anis Agraniou (Ecole Belawech Boumerde), Adriano Ahouissanou (CEG Sainte Rita), Nazirou Arouna (CEG Sainte Rita), Innocent Banda (Salima Secondary), Almany Kake (CS Ben Sekou Sylla), Nkululeko Mabasa (Clapham High School), Ntokozo Madondo (Clapham High School), Mosa Maloisane (Clapham High School), Kgaogelo Monanyane (Clapham High School), Achirafou Sabam (CEG Sainte Rita), Ibrahima Sacko (CS Ben Sekou Sylla), Sekou Sylla (CS Ben Sekou Sylla), Soumayirou Tchaouna (CEG Sainte Rita)
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
GIRLS' COMPETITION
Matches played: 9
Goals scored: 24
Biggest win: Edendale Technical 1 Fountain Gate 7 (Group A, April 5); Ecole Omar ibn Khatab 6 Anse Boileau 0 (Group B, April 5)
Most goals in a game: 8 - Edendale Technical 1 Fountain Gate 7 (Group A, April 5)
FINAL STANDINGS
GROUP A P W D L GF GA GD PTS
Fountain Gate School (Tanzania) 2 2 0 0 9 1 8 6
Scan Aid (The Gambia) 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1
Edendale Technical High School (South Africa) 2 0 1 1 2 8 -6 1
GROUP B P W D L GF GA GD PTS
Ecole Omar IBN Khatab (Morocco) 3 2 1 0 9 0 9 7
CSG De Mfilou (Congo) 3 2 0 1 2 3 -1 6
CEG Cobly (Benin) 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
Anse Boileau (Seychelles) 3 0 0 3 0 8 -8 0
GOALSCORERS
6 goals - Winifrida Gerald (Fountain Gate)
5 - Malak Hajjam El Idrissi (Ecole Omar ibn Khatab)
2 - Dornella Nzeli (CEG de Mfilou), Mary Siyame (Fountain Gate)
1 - Aya Ayoub (Ecole Omar ibn Khatab), Kaddy Camara (Scan Aid), Sara Dofry (Ecole Omar ibn Khatab), Anele Douglas (Edendale Technical), Nada El Aslani (Ecole Omar ibn Khatab), Samkelo Gwananda (Edendale Technical), Zainabu Karuka (Fountain Gate School), Bassopa Yokossi (CEG Cobly), Hiba Youssoufi (Ecole Omar ibn Khatab)
