2024-01-17 20:50:09
Morocco, the fourth runner-up in the 2022 World Cup, revealed its teeth early with an easy victory over deficient Tanzania 3-0, on Wednesday, at the Laurent Poco Stadium in San Pedro, in the first round of the sixth group competitions of the African Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire.
Saudi Al-Shabab player, captain Romain Saiss (30), French Marseille midfielder Azzedine Ounahi (77), and Spanish Seville striker Youssef En-Nesyri (80) scored the hat-trick for Morocco.
Morocco survived the major setbacks once morest the smaller teams, and also achieved the first victory for the Arabs in the tournament, following Egypt and Algeria tied and Tunisia and Mauritania lost.
The two teams played the match in difficult weather conditions, as the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius, while the humidity level approached 80 percent.
Tanzania played incomplete for more than 20 minutes following Shakhtar Donetsk’s Ukrainian player Novatos Miroshi was sent off, receiving two yellow cards for roughness (70), which Morocco took advantage of, increasing its score and scoring two goals.
Coach Walid Al-Regragui brought Mohamed Al-Shaibi instead of the injured Yahya Attia Allah, and preferred Abdel Samad Al-Zalzouli over Sofiane Boufal, who recently returned to the stadiums following recovering from an injury that kept him out for regarding 3 months.
The Atlas Lions players controlled the match from the first minute and surrounded the Stars of the Nation players in their area and prevented them from getting the ball out easily.
Turkish Galatasaray player Hakim Ziyech was the most active Moroccan player and distributed balls to his teammates around the field without much danger until the last third of the first half.
After a long ball from Ziyech, winger Abdel Samad Zalzouli prepared the ball with his head for Seville’s Spanish striker Youssef En-Nesyri, who failed to open the scoring following his shot went over the crossbar (9).
From a mistake he made himself on the edge of the penalty area, Ziyech shot a direct free kick with his left force over the wall, but Simba Aichi goalkeeper Saloum Maniola cleared it, but defender Saiss followed it into the net (30).
This is the third goal for Saiss in 76 international matches.
After a beautiful through pass from Marseille’s French midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, Ziyech shot the solo forcefully from inside the area, but Maniola deflected it for a corner (36).
Winger Abdel Samad Zalzouli dribbled the Tanzanian defender amazingly inside the area before shooting strongly, but outside the goal (39).
Morocco also dominated the second half, but the turning point was the expulsion of defender Mirushi, who received a second yellow card for roughness once morest Onahi (70).
Salim Amalah and Al-Zalzouli left, and Amin Adly and Bilal Al-Khanous took their place (72).
Morocco did not delay in exploiting the numerical disadvantage to score the net on two occasions, starting with a wonderful exchange of the ball between Bayern Leverkusen’s German substitute striker, Amin Adly, and Ounahi, with the latter shooting a powerful low ball from the edge of the penalty area to the right of the goalkeeper (77). Before Al-Nusairi marked the third with a shot at Al-Tayer with his left foot following a pass from Hakimi on the right side, following returning to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to dispel doubts regarding offside (80).
En-Nesyri became the only Moroccan player to score in 4 consecutive editions of the continental championship.
Regragui made three substitutions at once, bringing on Amine Harit, Ayoub El Kaabi and Boufal instead of Ziyech, En-Nesyri and Ounahi (81).
After a powerful shot from Adly from outside the area, Belgian Genk striker Al-Khanous failed to deposit the ball that fell from the goalkeeper a few meters away from the goal (90+2).
Tanzania failed to achieve its first victory in the continental championship in its third participation following 1980 and 2019.
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