Morocco advances to the knockout stage of the Africa Cup. The team of national coach Vahid Halilhodzic won 2-0 on Friday evening against the Comoros, the number 132 in the FIFA world ranking. After an early 1-0, Morocco looked for a long time for the 2-0, but goalkeeper Salim Ben Boina had a special performance: he made a few slips, but always solved them himself, made incredible saves and also took a penalty. Zakaria Aboukhlal eventually made the decision. Morocco has six points after two matches.
Morocco was the big favorite and actually took the lead after fifteen minutes. In the penalty area, former Eredivisie attacker Tarik Tissoudali put the ball wide towards Ayoub El Kaabi, whose shot was blocked. Then the ball ended up with Selim Amallah, who remained calm in the chaotic goal mouth and found the space for a striking drive: 1-0. Ten minutes before the break, Nayef Aguerd had a great chance to double the margin after a corner from the right flank, but the detached defender headed over the crossbar.
It was certainly not the only chance Morocco would get at the 2-0. The men of national coach Halilhodzic were a lot stronger than the Comoros, but were careless in the completion: the last pass too often did not arrive at the destination. After an hour, midfielder Yacine Bourhane of Go Ahead Eagles made his entrance to the Comoros; Saïd Bakari of RKC Waalwijk already had a base place. Aboukhlal made his entrance to Morocco after 65 minutes. Former Eredivisionist Sofyan Amrabat was in the starting line-up, but NEC’s Souffian El Karouani had to make do with a place in the stands.
It became more and more curious that it only remained 1-0. Ben Boina handed in the ball and saw Amallah shoot wide; After preparatory work by Achraf Hakimi, Sofiane Boufal encountered the goalkeeper from close by, who then also kept a free kick by Hakimi out of his goal. The most bizarre moment occurred thirteen minutes before time. Fayçal Fajr brought the ball into the penalty area with the outside of the foot, after which goalkeeper Ben Boina made a save on a header from Aguerd and the rebounds from both Romain Saïss and Adam Masina, all from very close range. Even a penalty didn’t help: Aboukhlal earned a penalty after a foul by Ben Boina, but the keeper then turned Youssef En-Nesyri’s bet.
In the short corner he also prevented Aboukhlal from scoring, so that Morocco only seemed to win 1-0. The Comoros may have even had hope for an equaliser, but there were no serious chances. Just when no one seemed to be able to beat Ben Boina anymore, Aboukhlal scored in a one-on-one situation. The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but VAR reversed that decision after an intervention lasting about two minutes.
At the Comoros they have their own Manuel Neuer in house ????? pic.twitter.com/kxZ1d7OpNt
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) January 14, 2022