Morocco, Gambia Mark Return To U20 AFCON With Group C Opener  

  Morocco, Gambia Mark Return To U20 AFCON With Group C Opener By Admin Morocco and Gambia will end their Total Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hiatus when they face each other in their Group C opener at the Stade de Municipal Nouadhibou on Tuesday night. The young Atlas Lions of Morocco missed the last seven editions. Their last appearance in the tournament was in 2005 in Benin, when they were eliminated in the group stages. Morocco hosted and won the tournament in 1997 and they will be hoping to repeat that feat when they open their campaign against an equally gifted Gambia on Tuesday. They qualified for Mauritania after winning the UNAF U-20 tournament in Rades, Tunisia. Meanwhile, the Baby Scorpions as the Gambian team is nicknamed will be participating in their third tournament. Gambia surprisingly finished third at their debut appearance in Congo Brazzaville in 2007. Mattar M'Boge's charges booked a ticket to Mauritania after winning the WAFU A qualification tournament, beating the host Senegal in the final. After suffering a 5-1 whitewash against Senegal in the opening fixture of the tournament, the Young Scorpions recovered to beat Sierra Leone 2-1 and qualify for the last four. They eliminated the much-fancied Guinea 2-1 in the semifinals before denying Senegal a place in Mauritania with victory over spotkicks.