U17 AFCON: Remmane apologises to Algerians after exit
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Loading... - Conor Murphy
- 15 May 2023
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Algeria's U-17 head coach, Arezki Remmane, has expressed his remorse after his side was eliminated from the 2023 U-17 Africa Cup of Nations following their 3-0 loss to neighboring country Morocco on Wednesday. Despite being tournament hosts, the Fennecs were unable to put up a good performance and were knocked out after Zakaria Ouazane scored twice, and Adam Chakir netted a goal.
Remmane, who shouldered the blame for the loss, apologized to the fans for the team's poor performance. He said, "I express my regret to the public because we were eager to please them with a good result and remain in the competition. We played to the best of our abilities and everyone contributed to the effort to achieve a positive outcome, but fate was against us. I take full responsibility for this result because the players gave their all."
The coach, however, commended his young players' spirit and expressed confidence that they would improve with time. He said, "We started strongly and were well-organized, but Morocco scored when we were in control of the game. We made some individual mistakes, which are inexcusable at this level. In football, you pay for your errors. The players are young and will learn. I will not question their desire and fighting spirit because they gave their best."
Senegal joined Morocco in the semi-finals after thrashing their opponents 5-0 in Algiers on the same day.
Remmane also admitted that the experience was a learning opportunity for his team. He said, "This is a learning experience, and we will take the lessons from this and move forward. If we cannot learn from this, then it will be impossible to improve."
The defeat was a massive blow to Algeria's aspirations of reaching the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Nonetheless, the coach remains optimistic about the team's future and believes that they will emerge stronger from this setback.
