Morocco, Sudan through to quarter finals of African Nations Championship

RABAT, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and Sudan qualified on Wednesday for the quarterfinals of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.

Ayoub El Kaabi continued his impressive performance in the tournament, scoring a hat-trick as hosts and favorites Morocco beat Guinea 3-1 in Group A.

El Kaabi broke the deadlock after 27 minutes, but Guinea's reply took only one minute thanks to a goal from Saidouba Bissiri Camara.

After this hat-trick, El Kaabi becomes the joint record holder for number of goals in a single CHAN tournament. He has now equaled Zambia's Given Singuluma's tally of five goals in a tournament. Singuluma achieved this feat in 2009 in Cote d'Ivoire.

In the second half, Morocco continued to put pressure on the Guineans. El Kaabi scored in the 64th minute and then completed his hat trick four minutes later.

Speaking after the match, Morocco's coach Jamal Sellami said he is very satisfied with the result and overall performance of his team, adding that while the six points is enough to confirm the team's place in the next round, they will prepare well to face Sudan in the next match. Morocco hammered Mauritania 4-0 in the group A opener.

In the second match in Group A, the Sudanese fought their way to a crucial 2-1 win over Guinea. Sudan also beat Mauritania 1-0 thanks to Musa Yaakoub's goal in the 30th minute.

Sudan occupy second place behind hosts Morocco on goal difference, while Guinea and Mauritania follow in third and fourth place respectively.

The tournament, which is for African footballers based in their own domestic leagues, features 16 teams divided into four groups. Enditem