Winning start for Under-17 hosts

Algeria and Gambia both won on the opening day of the competition

Hosts Algeria got off to a winning start at the African Under-17 Championship with a 1-0 win over Cameroon in Algiers.

Nadir Bendahmane scored in the 20th minute in front of a fair-sized crowd in Algiers.

Cameroon played most of the game with ten men, as Thierry Onana was red-carded in the 40th minute.

Algeria share the lead in Group A with Gambia , who beat Guinea 1-0 in Thursdays' other game.

Ebrima Bajong, who plays for Real Banjul, scored the only goal of the game seven minutes after half-time.

The Baby Scorpions won the tournament as hosts in 2005 before recording a famous win over Brazil at the Under-17 World Cup the same year in Peru.

The four semi-finalists at the tournament in Algeria will qualify for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria that kicks off in October.

Group B gets under way on Friday, with Zimbabwe playing Burkina Faso and Niger taking on Malawi.

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