Morocco recorded a convincing victory over Guinea-Bissau in the African qualifying cycle for the World Cup on Wednesday evening. The team of national coach Vahid Halilhodzic won 5-0 and thus took another step towards group victory. Morocco is at the top of the group with six points after two games. The group winner advances to the last round, in which a diptych with another group winner is fought for a World Cup ticket.
The match was in doubt, because the Guinea-Bissau selection suffered food poisoning. The football association of Guinea-Bissau reported that all 25 selection players and some staff members had been admitted to a hospital in Rabat after they suffered from diarrhea during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and had to vomit. Nevertheless, the match went on and after 33 minutes Achraf Hakimi opened the scoring for Morocco. The right back got the ball on the box after Guinea-Bissau tried to clear a corner and hit the left corner hard.
?? Halfway through Morocco is 2-0 against Guinea-Bissau, Achraf Hakimi opened the score with this delicious bang ??
?? Morocco – Guinea-Bissau
?? ESPN pic.twitter.com/Tiz0sLTFPa— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) October 6, 2021
In the last minute of the first half, Morocco was awarded a penalty after Bura’s clumsy foul on Ryan Mmaee. The ensuing penalty was successfully aimed into the left corner by Watford midfielder Imran Louza. A few minutes after the break, Morocco expanded the margin: Ilias Chair provided himself outside the penalty area for a nice shot into the far right corner. After more than an hour it became 4-0, thanks to a wonderful half bicycle kick by Ayoub El Kaabi after a cross from Adam Masina. Substitute Munir El Haddadi determined the final score at 5-0 eight minutes before the end when he did not fail in a one-on-one situation with keeper Jonas Mendes. It is the biggest win since the 6-0 win over Mali in September 2017.
?? Ayoub el Kaabi puts Morocco in an unparalleled way at 4-0! ??
?? Morocco – Guinea-Bissau
?? ESPN pic.twitter.com/fQhhhcZlHu— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) October 6, 2021
Former Eredivisionist Sofyan Amrabat had a basic place, while AZ attacker Zakaria Aboukhlal and NEC defender Souffian El Karouani remained on the bench. Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui were left out of the selection by national coach Halilhodzic. He thinks Ziyech showed too little discipline and struggle in the Morocco shirt, while Mazraoui does not look good with the national coach due to a previous incident. “He said he was injured, but the medical staff just told me he was fit I cannot tolerate that kind of behavior,” Halilhodzic said late last month.
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