Worldcup 1998 : ACN'98 - Morocco 1 / Egypt 0, February 17, 1998.

MOROCCO 3 / EGYPT 0, February 17, 1998.

World Cup qualifiers march on at African Nations
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BOBO DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso , February 17, 98 (Reuters)

A spectacular overhead shot from Moustafa Hadji put Morocco firmly in the African Nations' Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday, ensuring that all four World Cup qualifiers in the competition reached the knock-out stage.

Morocco's 1-0 victory over Egypt in group D set up a Sunday showdown with defending champion and fellow World Cup qualifier South Africa, which reached the last 16 from group C behind its prolific scorers from Ivory Coast.

"It was an extraordinary goal, a real pleasure goal," Morocco's French coach Henri Michel told reporters afterward, adding his team was improving, but still had some way to go after a lackluster start to the tournament.

"We are not physically ready for the Nations' Cup," said Mohamed Lamrani, secretary-general of the Moroccan football federation, adding that winning the Nations' Cup would be a bonus. "We are building up gently. Our target is the World Cup."

In Tuesday's other game, Zambia beat Mozambique 3-1. Mozambique scored its first and last goal of the 1998 finals, Zambia's veteran midfielder Kalusha Bwalya retired from international competition and both teams bowed out of the Nations' Cup.

Of the other two World Cup finalists, Cameroon plays the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday in Bobo Dioulasso, and Tunisia play host and tournament underdog Burkina Faso on Saturday in the capital of Ouagadougou.

In the fourth quarterfinal, Ivory Coast play Egypt on Saturday.

Unbeaten in competition for two years and the pre-tournament favorite, Morocco wrapped up the game against Egypt in the 90th minute, against a team that played much of the game with 10 men.

Danish referee Kim Nielsen sent off Egypt's Medhat Abdel for a professional foul a third of the way into the match.

Michel, who took France and Cameroon to previous World Cups, acknowledgedthe Atlas Lions' performance was laborious and lacked vivacity.

"We must above all regain match fitness, which has been lacking," Michel said. "We lack mobility and we lack spontaneity."

The tournament's top goal scorer, Egypt's Hassan Hossam, failed to add to his tally of five, cutting a lonely figure up front where he battled single-handedly against four defenders.

Tuesday's goal, Morocco's fifth of the competition, was the first conceded by Egypt.

"It's the teams whose only target is the Nations' Cup who are dangerous," the Moroccan federation's Lamrani said.

Cameroon qualified comfortably for the last 16 with wins over Burkina Faso and Algeria. Tunisia made heavy weather of qualifyingfrom group B -- finally moving forward with a 3-1 win over Togo in its last game on Monday.

South Africa languished in third place in group C before rising star Benedict McCarthy knocked four goals past Namibia in its final game on Monday.