U-17 World Cup: Morocco showed true level in record winning contest – Bouhaddi

Morocco U-17 national team captain Hamza Bouhaddi revealed their record breaking 16-0 win against New Caledonia showed their true colours in the on-going FIFA U-117 World Cup in Qatar.

The North African side racked up the biggest victory in U-17 World Cup history to keep their hopes alive of progressing to the knockout phase. Spain’s 13-0 win over New Zealand was the previous biggest win, but the Atlas Cubs surpassed that with a relentless performance.

New Caledonia had two players sent off during the first half, with Typhan Dreuko and Jean Canehmez given red cards. They were made to pay, with Oualid Ibn Salah, Abdelali Eddaoudi, Ziyad Baha, Nahel Haddani, Ismail El Aoud and Abdellah Ouazane all completing braces as Morocco steadfastly hunted the goals which could give them a better chance to progressing to the Round of 32.

Morocco delighted with the spirit they showed

“We’re delighted with this win and the spirit we showed today. This is our true level. We lost the first two matches, but we tried to put that behind us and we approached today’s game as if it were our first in the tournament,” said Bouhaddi as quoted by FIFA.com.

Meanwhile, Morocco coach Nabil Baha praised his players, while acknowledging the pressure they had faced after two tough defeats.

“We thank the Moroccan fans who came to support us, even though they were hard on us after the Portugal loss,” Baha said. “It was important to score many goals to improve our goal difference. We had to win, we had nothing to lose,” said Baha.

He added: “Let’s be honest, they were easier. But we needed to score a lot. Now we’re at +8, and that could make the difference. “We were under pressure in the first two games. But today, we played freely. The players were happy, and that’s what we want.”

Morocco finished behind Japan and Portugal in Group B, and will now have to wait to see if they qualify as one of the best third-placed sides.