Morocco and Nigeria eye final

Morocco take on Nigeria in Kerkrade on Tuesday in the semi-finals of the World Youth Championship.
This is the second time that two African teams will have met at this stage of the global under-20 tournament.

Ghana beat Egypt on their way to the final of the 2001 tournament in Argentina.

Nigeria and Morocco have already met this year - with the Flying Eagles narrowly winning on penalties - in the semi-finals of the African Youth Championship in Benin in January.

Bizarrely enough, Ghana had done the same over Egypt at the African Championship in Ethiopia in 2001.

Both Nigeria and Morocco survived tough penalty shoot-outs in the quarter-finals, Nigeria beating hosts Holland while Morocco overcame Italy.

Nigeria coach Samson Siasia knows that beating Morocco will not be an easy task.

"This is going to be a tough game because the Moroccans have improved tremendously since our last meeting in Benin," Siasia told the BBC Sport.

"They have two good players in Mouhssine Iajour and El Zhar Nabil; they are the powerhouse of the Moroccans because they are fast, intelligent and have great tactical ability."

Morocco, who are making their third appearance at the championship, will be banking on their large group of supporters to cheer them to victory.

"Everyone is ready for this big semi-final clash. For us it is the final before the final," Morocco's coach Jamal Fathi said.

"I feel we could be the surprise package of this tournament," he added.

The winners of the match will play either Argentina or Brazil, who meet in the other semi-final on Wednesday