The second semifinal match of the TotalEnergies CAF U23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 will take place on Tuesday night, and hosts Morocco will meet Mali there in front of their home crowd.

As they square up against the powerful Mali team at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, the team of coach Issame Charai looks to extend their unbeaten streak to four straight games.

Recognising the difficulty ahead, Charai emphasised the necessity of accuracy in front of goal from the very start of the game, leaving little chance for their opponents to profit.

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The coach stressed the necessity for a focused and disciplined approach during a pre-game press conference.

“While it won’t be an easy game, we must be sharp in front of goal and deny our opponents any opportunity,” Charai emphasized.

Despite having won all three of their group matches, Morocco might appear to be the favourite on paper, but knockout rounds are notoriously unpredictable.

Charai, who was also named the best manager during the group stage, is still cautious but optimistic about his team’s capacity to focus and win.

“Our squad of 23 players is capable of starting tomorrow’s match. We witnessed some exceptional performances in our previous game against Congo, and some of those players will earn their place in the starting lineup,” Charai revealed about his team’s selection process.

In order to get to the knockout round, Morocco defeated Guinea 2-1 and proved their superiority by crushing Ghana 5-1 in their subsequent matches.

In a game played last Saturday, they finished the group stages with a tenacious 1-0 victory over Congo Brazzaville.

Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, who has already scored three goals in the competition, is leading Morocco’s attack in the goal-scoring department. Ezzalzouli will take the lead in the attack against a tenacious Mali team that has scored six goals while allowing just two.

The Moroccan team’s star striker, Yanis Begraoui, highlighted the team’s resolve to defeat Mali and emphasised their desire to avoid a classification match.

“After recovering well from our last game, our ultimate goal is to secure a win and qualify for the Olympic Games on Tuesday, rather than being relegated to a classification match.

“The latter scenario would only add additional pressure,” stated Begraoui, highlighting their ambition to progress in the tournament.

Coach Charai and his squad are ready to display their skills in front of the home fans as the stage is set for the exciting semifinal match, hoping to win and move closer to their Olympic goals.