Tunisian cup quarterfinal game rescheduled, Morocco prepares for Olympics

2007-03-05

A quarterfinal match between Espérance and Jendouba Sport has been rescheduled. The Moroccan Football Federation set up a training camp to prepare for a 2008 Olympics qualifier against Rwanda.

[Getty Images] Morocco's Abdelkrim Kissi will stay with MSC while looking for a professional club.

The Tunisian Football Federation announced last week that it has decided to reschedule the national cup quarterfinal match between Espérance and Jendouba Sport. The game will be played at the El Menzah Olympic Stadium on Tuesday (March 6th) instead of Wednesday.

In more news from Tunisia, Sporting Club Sfaxien has fined striker Hamza Younes for disciplinary problems. Younes is no stranger to controversy; at one time he came close to being fired after a bitter row with team manager Michel Decastel.

The Moroccan Football Federation has summoned 18 players for the Olympic team's training camp in Maamora which begins on Tuesday. The players are preparing for a qualifier match for the 2008 Olympics against Rwanda later this month. Morocco won the first game at home, 3-0. Team manager Fathi Jamal has only asked players from local clubs to attend the camp. Professionals with contracts abroad will join the team at a later date.

Moroccan international Abdelkrim Kissi will spend the rest of the season with Dutch amateur club MSC. He was dropped by SC Heerenveen last December and has stayed with MSC to keep in shape while looking for a new professional club. The lack of offers has forced Kissi to remain with MSC, at least until the summer.

Scotland's Hibernian will play a friendly match with Morocco as part of a settlement in the dispute over the hiring of former Raja Casablanca player Merouane Zemmama. The midfielder joined Hibs in August 2006, but Raja contested the move, claiming that he was still bound by a contract to the Moroccan team. According to unofficial reports, the Scottish club paid Raja 200,000 euros for the player and agreed to a friendly match with Morocco as part of the same deal. The game is expected to take place in Casablanca some time in the summer.

Hibs manager John Collins said he was very pleased with the performance of his team's top scorer, Moroccan Abdessalam Benjelloun. "Benji", as he is known by fans in Edinburgh, joined the team in January 2006 and gained near-legendary status when he scored the winning goal in his very first match for Hibs. Benjelloun has scored ten goals so far this season -- four in the championship, three for the Scottish Cup, and three for the League Cup. On Saturday, he provided Hibs' third goal in the team's 3-1 win over Gretna. Hibs will play in a Scottish Cup semifinal at home against Dunfermline on 14 April.

Algerian Mansour Boutabout scored the second goal for Sedan's 2-0 win over PSG in the 27th round of the French championship on Saturday. The striker's goal came in the 73rd minute. The victory has kept alive Sedan's hopes of survival in the top league. The team continues to languish in the 20th spot on the table with 25 points, but is only four points away from the 17th place needed to keep it in the top league for another year.