Morocco eliminated from Africa Cup after negative leading roles by Mazraoui and Hakimi

Morocco failed to reach the last eight at the African Cup of Nations. The team of national coach Walid Regragui lost 0-2 to South Africa, which will face Cape Verde in the quarter-finals. With the first goal, Noussair Mazraoui played a negative role by eliminating offside. Five minutes before the end, Achraf Hakimi hit a penalty against the crossbar.

A major setback for Morocco was the absence of Sofiane Boufal and Hakim Ziyech. The former was injured in training this week, while Ziyech did not recover in time from an ankle injury. There were starting places for Mazraoui and Sofyan Amrabat, among others. Youssef En-Nesyri had to score the goals at the point of attack.

Morocco started the match offensively, although the last decisive pass often failed to materialize. South Africa lurked on the counter and had its first chance of the match after just over fifteen minutes. Teboho Mokoena tried with a shot, to which Yassine Bounou had an answer.

After more than half an hour of play, Mazraoui appeared to hit an opponent's foot in his own sixteen, but referee Mahmood Ismail and the VAR did not see a penalty. The pace wasn't too high before halftime. Morocco had possession of the ball, but did little with it. South Africa held its ground defensively, although it was unable to attack much.

The first serious opportunity of the second half came from Azzedine Ounahi, who had a great shooting opportunity in the South African box after a nice combination. The Olympique Marseille playmaker shot inches over. Shortly afterwards, the Moroccans claimed a penalty after an alleged foul on Abde Ezzalzouli, but again Ismail did not point to the spot.

Ten minutes after the break, South Africa struck mercilessly. Themba Zwane needed one good pass to expose the Moroccan defense. Evidence Makgopa then shot through Bounou's legs. At first it appeared to be offside, but the replay showed that Mazraoui stepped just too late: 0-1. Morocco came up with an answer almost immediately through Ezzalzouli, who came across Ronwen Williams after a cutting move.

Regragui had to push things a bit and brought in Amine Harit and Ismail Saibari for Amine Adli and Selim Amallah. Not long after coming on as a substitute, Saibari played a crucial role in Morocco's penalty kick. The PSV player passed to substitute Ayoub El Kaabi, who in turn shot into the outstretched arm of Mothobi Mvala. Hakimi took responsibility but shot over the top of the crossbar.

At the start of the ten minutes of added time, Amrabat received his second yellow card and therefore red for bringing down a South African who had broken through. After a VAR check, Ismail came to the conclusion that it was not a second yellow card, but a direct red card. To make matters worse, it even became 0-2 a little later. Mokoena curled the free kick created by Amrabat brilliantly into the short intersection.

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