* Tanzania were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute and coach Walid Regragui’s Morocco took absolute control of the game from there
* Morocco will play DR Congo next while Tanzania will face Zambia
CAFonline
The Atlas Lions of Morocco cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over Tanzania at the Stade Laurent Pokou in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023.
Advertisement
The Moroccans from the start took a total dominance of the game and created all the goal scoring opportunities and the 2022 World Cup semifinalists shot into the lead when Hakim Ziyech’s free kick was parried out by Salum Manula only for oncoming Roman Saiss to pounce on for the game’s opener.
Novatus Miroshi was shown second yellow card and Tanzania were reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute and coach Walid Regragui’s Morocco took absolute control of the game from there.
Luck had no place in this game as Morocco worked their way up to the cushioning through Azzedine Ounahi who after receiving a pass inside the box and without hesitation powered a thunderbolt to the underside of the goal for a 2-0 lead at 77 minutes.
Advertisement
Yousseff En Nesyri scored his own and Morocco’s third after receiving a pass inside the penalty area from Achraf Hakimi and showed composure before finding the far corner of goal to put Morocco 3-0 up against Tanzania. The goal stood after VAR review.
Morocco will play DR Congo next while Tanzania will face Zambia.
Meanwhile, following their surprising 0-1 defeat to Namibia, coach for Tunisia, Jalel Kadri, credited a better-organized Brave Warriors side for securing victory at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly stadium in Korhogo on Tuesday.
Jalel Khadri
The Group E clash was the first for both sides, with the former champions of 2004 entering the match as strong favorites.
Sharing his reactions after the disappointing result, Kadri stated that the loss was to a superior side, providing insight into the development of football on the continent.
“Everyone knows how to attack and defend, and this gives an idea about the development of football on the African continent,” he told CAFonline. “We lost the match to a respectable team.
“We were stronger on paper, but Namibia showed that they were stronger than us in the match.”
The dejected coach further urged his players not to be discouraged as there are two more matches to be played to determine the group outcome.
“There are two matches remaining, and our reaction must be positive, and God willing, we can get out of this situation we have put ourselves in,” concluded Kadri.
Advertisement