Djibouti finish 3rd in Arab youth tourney, but have top scorer

DJIBOUTI’S National U-17 squad has snatched the 3^rd place of the Arab youth football tourney which came to an end in Doha, on Sunday evening, after beating Qatar 3-2 in penalties, as the two nations fought for the 3^rd place.

The Hotly-contested match ended in 3-3 equality in the 90-minute period it takes to play a football match, but the Djiboutian goalkeeper, Gamil Haider who survived two penalty shootouts lead his team to secure their 3^rd place.

But Djiboutian striker, Moussa Hassan, was recognized as the top scorer of the two week-long tournament with 6 more goals.

“My intention was to win the trophy, but securing the 3^rd place against Qatar whose players are highly paid and have everything we are lacking was even a good approach for me and my players and I am very hopeful we will reach our target in the coming years” the coach of Djibouti youngsters, Omar Mahfoud told CECAFA media after the match.

He praised the Qatari side for good exhibition, saying they were also a strong team.

“Having the top scorer of the tourney was another mentionable achievement for me and my young boys who are for the first time playing outside Djibouti” coach Omar Mahfoud said in his talk with CECAFA Media.

Djibouti FA president Souleiman Hassan Waberi who watched Sunday’s match, was the first to embrace and congratulate his youngsters on their good reach, saying he was happy with how professionally they performed.

This was the first time that a team from the small horn of African nation of Djibouti reaches such level at an Arab football competition.

However, Iraq won the trophy after they defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0 on Sunday, while Djibouti finished 3^rd and hosts Qatar ended up in the 4^th place.