Morocco easily emerged victorious from its first CAN match, this Wednesday against Tanzania (3-0).
After the first four days of competition, no selection from North Africa had won during this CAN 2023. An anomaly which ended this Wednesday with the exit of Morocco. The selection of Walid Regragui perfectly honored its rank by easily dominating Tanzania.
Fanfare debut for Morocco
The Moroccans had already beaten their opponents of the day a few weeks ago for the World Cup qualifiers. So they did it again in this continental tournament. At no time did they tremble in this part. The last half hour of the match even saw them play out after the Tanzanians had been reduced to ten men.
Before finding himself in numerical superiority, the semi-finalist of the last World Cup had already done the hard part by opening the score. At the 30e minute, Romain Saiss found the fault, catching a ball released by the goalkeeper following a free kick from Achraf Hakimi. At 1-0, everything became easier for the Atlas Lions.
Ounahi made the powder speak
To ensure the break, Morocco relied on Azeddine Ounahi. The one who is so disappointing under the tunic of OM becomes completely transfigured once he plays with his country. At the 77e minute, he finds himself at the conclusion of a victorious action that he himself initiated. Recovering the ball on the side, he leaned on Amine Adli before scoring with a low shot.
It was 2-0, then 3-0 just three minutes later. Just before his replacement, Youssef En-Nesyri completed his team’s success by taking over without control a precise cross from Achraf Hakimi. The mass was said and the score could have been even larger if it hadn’t been for the Tanzanian goalkeeper to deflect a low shot from Adli in the 92nde. With this great victory, Morocco emerges as one of the big candidates for the coronation.
