Relief for hosts Morocco as they start Cup of Nations with win
- Rain dampened the atmosphere and a nervy start, including a wasted penalty opportunity, reflected the intense pressure on the home team
RABAT: Morocco eventually got the party underway but relief was the overriding emotion on Sunday as they overcame tiny Comoros 2-0 in the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Rain dampened the atmosphere and a nervy start, including a wasted penalty opportunity, reflected the intense pressure on the home team, who are the runaway favourites but looking for their first Cup of Nations success in 50 years.
It was only in the second half of the Group A game that they were able to break through with goals from Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi, though the scoreline might have been more flattering as the minnows tired in the closing stages.
“It’s never easy to get into the competition,” said Morocco coach Walid Regruagui, who guided the side to the semi-finals of the last World Cup in Qatar.
“An opening match is always difficult, but we did the job. It was important to win our first match, in front of our fans, to get off to a good start in the competition.
“We’d been preparing for this match for a year and a half and put a lot of pressure on ourselves.
“The game got off to a bad start, with that missed penalty and Romain Saiss being substituted.”
The Morocco captain, who had spent the first half of the year sidelined by ankle surgery, went off injured after 18 minutes in a flood of tears after an innocuous push.
There was no immediate news on the extent of the injury.
“At halftime, I wasn’t very happy with the team, and made some adjustments, which the boys implemented very quickly,“ added Regragui.
The first goal came 10 minutes after the break from Real Madrid’s Diaz, who was named man of the match.
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“We needed to create a lot of chances because, of course, they played with 11 players behind the ball, so it was a difficult game,” said Diaz.
“We need to keep improving and we need to create chances to score the goals.”
Morocco can expect a tougher task against Mali in their next game on Friday.
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