UAE 2013: I/Coast face Argentina

Argentina on Tuesday booked themselves a place in the FIFA U-17 World Cup quarter-finals after beating Tunisia 3-1 in Dubai thanks to fine goals from Joaquin Ibanez and Sebastian Driussi, FIFA.com reports.

The South American champions will meet their  African counterparts Ivory Coast, who beat Morocco 2-1 in their Round of 16 fixture in Fujairah.

Neither team had cruised into the knockout stages. La Albiceleste flew out of the traps in the Rashid Stadium thanks to Ferreyra. Within the first two minutes of the game, the Velez Sarsfield midfielder got on the end of Driussi’s flicked header from a short corner to volley home.

Meanwhile, the  speedy and talented Ivorians  took an early lead only for Moroccan sensation Younes Bnou Marzouk to draw level in the second half. Junior Ahissan sealed  victory for the  West Africans to reach  the last eight. Mohamed Saoud was fouled in the penalty area and Franc Kessie stepped up to power a text-book penalty into the back of the net.

The Ivorians almost stretched their lead three minutes later, but Meite Yakou’s wicked shot from the edge of the box scraped against the outside of the post. Nabil Jaadi had a chance for the Moroccans in the 18th minute only for Seck Diabagate to save the effort from close range after a nice run into the box. Both sides had half-chances to score as the half wound down, but neither could find their way through.