DEFENDING champions Egypt reached the Youth World Cup after advancing to the semi-finals of the African U-20 Championship in Benin. Egypt's semi-final appearance in Africa, at the expense of Lesotho, gave it its ticket to Holland where the Youth World Cup will be played in June. At the Friendship Stadium at CotonouEgypt sailed past Lesotho 4-1. The Egyptians raced to a two-goal lead in the opening 12 minutes of their Group B match. Abdallah Abdou opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Ahmed Farag doubled the lead just five minutes later. The final three goals came in the final 15 minutes of the game. Abdallah Mohamed extended Egypt's lead to 3-0 in the 75th minute before Mahmoud Fadl put the game beyond doubt with an 82nd minute strike. Lesotho got a late consolation through a penalty converted by Lintho Korie. Because of goal difference, Egypt topped Group B with seven points while Morocco came in second, Lesotho third and Angola fourth. Egypt earlier beat Angola 1-0 and drew with Morocco 2-2.
