RABAT, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Morocco finished top of Group A at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) after a goalless draw against Sudan on Sunday.
At the Mohammed VI Stadium in Casablanca, the hosts and favorites pushed hard for their third win of the tournament, even though they knew a draw would have been enough for them to remain on top of the group thanks to a superior goal difference.
The two teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament after winning their first two matches in the Group.
The Moroccans created numerous opportunities, but failed to convert them into goals. The clearest opportunity was in the 50th minute after Wydad Casablanca's Walid El Karti was awarded a penalty.
African Champions League winner Achraf Bencharki then missed the kick after a brilliant save from Sudan's keeper Akram Elhadi.
While this game was being played, in Marrakech, Guinea and Mauritania faced each other to avoid finishing bottom of the group.
The Guineans were the better side and translated their good performance into a 1-0 win after Ibrahima Sankhon scored the only goal of the game early in the first half.
After this victory, Guinea moved to third place with three points and Mauritania finished fourth after losing all of their matches in the tournament. Morocco top the group with seven points followed by Sudan who are on the same number of points, but slip to second place thanks to an inferior goal difference.
Morocco will play the second placed team in Group B, while Sudan face the top of the same group. They will meet either Namibia or Zambia, who have already booked their tickets to the next round of the competition and meet on Monday to decide who will top the group.
