Moroccan World Cup hopes fade

21/06/2009

Morocco stands little chance of qualifying for the World Cup and Africa Cup after a draw on Saturday against Togo.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 21/06/09

[Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images] Morocco's Youssef Kharja Houssine heads the ball during Saturday's World Cup 2010 group A qualifying football match against Togo. The match ended 0-0.

Fans were disappointed on Saturday (June 20th) when the Moroccan National Football Team played a goalless match against Togo as part of the double qualifiers for the World Cup and Africa Cup.

The game was played in Rabat.

Despite the weak performance, Togo's team managed to adopt a defensive strategy that proved effective against the Atlas Lions, who were missing Marouane Chamakh for the second game in a row due to injury.

Morocco's poor performance was obvious from the beginning, although they attempted to score several times.

Kamal Chafni wasted an attempt with a header in the 27th minute. A minute later, Houssine Kharja wasted yet another when he fired a strong ball towards Togo's goal. Mounir Elhamdaoui, a recent addition to the Lions squad, wasted a penalty kick in the 32nd minute, though he is the top scorer in the Dutch championship with his team AZ Alkmaar.

Disappointed fans were vocal.

"Players showcase their very best performance in European championships," one fan said after the game, "yet give weak performance when they play with their national teams. Also, Roger Lemerre is useless and should be replaced."

At some point, fans had had enough. They were angry at coach Roger Lemerre and started chanting "Al Zaki" in reference to former coach Badou Zaki, who took the team to the African Cup of Nations finals in 2004.

During the second half, the Lions' performance stayed just as weak. Marouane Zemmam was the best player in the game, having launched the most important attempt in the 86th minute on a strong penalty kick, but the Togolese goalie still cleared it.

"The problem is in selecting members of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, which manages the sector. The members should be chosen based on experience, not changing personalities just for the sake of change," said Bahaa Al Din Al Sharfi, a Moroccan fan.

With these results, Morocco now stands very little chance to qualify for the World Cup or the Africa Cup, ranking third with only two points. The Togolese team ranks second with four points, while Gabon tops the group with six points. Cameroon comes last with a single point.

Morocco will play against Togo in the home encounter on September 5th and will head to Gabon on October 10th to play against the hosting team. Morocco will be hosting its game with Cameroon on November 14th.