The 2023 TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Algiers, with host Algeria facing Somalia at the 40, 784-seater capacity Nelson Mandela stadium tonight.
Algeria is hosting the junior footballing event for the second time, the first been in 2009. The opening match kicks off at 20:00 hours and Algerian fans are confident the junior foxes will impress.
Algeria U17 head coach Arezki Remmane has declared his lads ready for the tournament.
Remmane stated that his side is ready for the soccer match in an interview with Cafonline. But he added that they won’t underrate their rivals.
“Every opening match is difficult for the host country. It will be a lot of pressure. The mental factor is very important in this competition.”
Remmane stated, “We are aware of how crucial the opening game is for the remainder of the competition.
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“All the teams know that there is a World Cup ticket at stake, and this will be like a mini–World Cup,” the Algerian boss said.
TotalEnergies U17 AFCON Groups:
A: Algeria, Senegal, Congo, Somalia
B: Nigeria, Zambia, Morocco, South Africa
C: Cameroon, Mali, South Sudan, Burkina Faso
