Yaounde (AFP) – The most important Moroccan and Senegalese teams achieved two deadly victories over Ghana and Zimbabwe by a score of 1-0, Monday, in the first round of the group stage of the 33rd African Nations Cup finals in Cameroon.
The Moroccan and Senegalese teams entered their matches in light of many and influential absences due to the “Covid-19” virus, and each of them waited for the last minutes to score the precious winning goal, with which each made a great stride towards the second round.
In the first match at the “Ahmedou Ahidjo” stadium in Yaounde in Group C, Morocco owes its victory to Angers striker Sofiane Boufal, who scored the only goal in the 83rd minute.
“Thank God, we managed to win the three points, and I am happy that I scored the winning goal,” Boufal said. We were determined to win and hope to win the next match and make the Moroccan fans happy.”
Morocco, which is seeking its second title in its history following 1976, played the match in the absence of its offensive arsenal, most notably the injured Sevilla striker Youssef Al-Nusairi and his Andalusian club colleague Mounir Al-Hadadi, who was infected with the “Covid-19” virus, with Ayub Al-Kaabi (Turkish Hatay Sport) and Ryan Mayi (Hungarian Ferentsvaros). ).
It is Boufal’s second international goal with his country, as well as Morocco’s first goal once morest Ghana in the continental finals since Khaled Al-Abyad on March 16, 1980 in the group stage.
Morocco avenged its loss to Ghana 0-2 in the group stage also for the version hosted by the “Black Stars” team in 2008, achieving its second victory over the latter in four confrontations between them, where they tied negatively in 2002 in Mali.
Moroccan-French Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic expressed his great happiness with the victory, despite the absence of an impact on the offensive line.
After the match, he said, “I am very happy with this victory and very proud of the performance, determination and fighting spirit of the players, as well as our success in scoring the winning goal despite the absences affecting our ranks.”
Halilhodzic kept Italian Fiorentina midfielder Sofian Amrabat on the bench, preferring Ferentsvaros defender Sami Mayi, and pushed Angers midfielder Ezzedine Unahi for the first time in the midfield at the expense of Eintracht Frankfurt player Ayman Barquq, who was infected with Corona, and Alkmaar striker Zakaria Abu Khalil at the expense of Queens Park Rangers game maker Elias Shaer.
The Ghanaian team, the defending champion four times, the last of which was in 1982, pressed at the beginning of the match, taking advantage of the Moroccan team’s retreat to the defense, and they got three corner kicks without danger, before the “Atlas Lions” imposed their control and possession of the ball.
Seville goalkeeper Yassin Bono saved his goal from an investigator by brilliantly banishing a shot from the Belgian Genk wing, Joseph Paintsil, from outside the area to a corner (72).
Buffal succeeded in opening the scoring when he took advantage of a ball snatched by Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey from Abu during inside the area and hit it powerfully with his right from close range in the right corner (83).
Substitute Tisodale almost did it with a strong shot from inside the area, which was pushed away by the goalkeeper with difficulty, before it was prepared in front of the other substitute, Sufian Rahimi, who crossed it in front of the goal, which was pushed away by the defense (90 + 2).
In the same group, Gabon beat Comoros with a single goal.
In the second match in Group B, Senegal needed a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time, translated by Liverpool star Sadio Mane, to beat Zimbabwe 1-0 at Koekong Stadium in Bafoussam.
The match was on its way to a negative tie, before the “Teranga Lions” scored a frustrating penalty kick for their opponents following a handball in the killer time on Calvin Madzungwe translated by Mane strong, raising his score to 27 goals with his country (90 + 7), to lead the Senegalese team in the group Post with Guinea winning Malawi 1-0 as well.
Eleven players were absent from Senegal due to Corona, including Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, his replacement, Alfred Gomes, and Napoli Italian defender Kalidou Coulibaly.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) had confirmed that the teams would play their matches in the continental championship, even if they had only 11 players.
“It was difficult to play in such hot conditions and the lack of an opportunity to play any friendly matches affected us a lot,” Mane said.
“We were very late to score, but the most important thing was to secure the most points and we achieved that. Now we must try to do better once morest Guinea” in the second round.
Senegal is seeking to crown the continental title for the first time, following two losses in the final, in 2019 once morest Algeria (1-0) and in 2002 once morest Cameroon (0-0, 3-2 on penalties).
Senegal is making its 16th appearance in the tournament, a record for a team that has never won the title, while Zimbabwe have not made it past the group stage in four appearances.
This is Senegal’s third successive victory over Zimbabwe in the tournament following 2006 and 2017, when it came out victorious with two goals.
In the same group and on the same stadium, Guinea started the finals with a precious victory over Malawi 1-0.
Guinea scored its only goal when Almaty Kazakh striker Jose Kanti received a ball inside the area, manipulating one of the defenders and playing a creeping cross, followed by French Toulouse defender Isiaga Sylla from close range into the goal (36).
In the second round scheduled for Friday, Senegal will play Guinea and Malawi with Zimbabwe.
