Moroccans disappointed over loss to Guinea

2008-01-25

The Moroccan national football team lost 3-2 Thursday against Guinea, shocking fans and making it harder for the team to qualify for the second round of the African Cup of Nations.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 25/01/08

[Getty Images] Moroccan national coach Henri Michel said his team has to shift its focus to the upcoming match against Ghana.

Following a smashing victory over Namibia earlier in the week, Morocco's national football team suffered a 3-2 defeat Thursday (January 24th) at the hands of Guinea, in the Maghreb team's second match of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

Although the Moroccans controlled the pitch through much of the match, the young team passed up many scoring opportunities. Most disappointing were two shots by striker Youssef Hadji in the 23rd and 47th minutes, which the Guinean goalkeeper only narrowly deflected.

Guinea's first goal came quickly and against the natural course of the game. It was scored in the 11th minute on a curling free-kick intelligently played by captain Pascal Feindouno directly at the goal. Moroccan goalkeeper Khaled Fouhami was not positioned well and failed to clear the ball.

Bangoura tapped in a second goal for Guinea in the 59th minute, capitalising on a vacuum in the Moroccan defensive line, who were trying to support their midfield players by moving forward to feed them the ball. Meanwhile, as soon as substitute Hicham Aboucherouane came in to replace Houssein Kherja, he scored one of the tournament's best goals – a screamer flying into the far corner in the 60th minute.

Nevertheless, Feindouno scored the third goal three minutes later from the penalty spot, which was challenged by Moroccan players. Things turned around for Morocco when Feindouno was red-carded for kicking Amine Rbati in an off-the-ball incident in front of the referee. The Atlas Lions tried to exploit the shortage, managing to score their second goal in the 90th minute on a header by defender Abdesslam Wadou. The goal came too late to turn things around.

After the match, Moroccan coach Henri Michel said, "Our players faced major difficulties in the midfield. The first goal took us by surprise, and made our game more difficult. We weren't able to take hold of the game. Our attackers relied on long passes, and I think that was wrong. Now we have to think about the decisive match against Ghana."

Moroccan midfielder Badr El Kaddouri said, "This defeat has affected us. All the odds were against us, and everyone saw how the referee was against us. He favoured the Guinean team against us; something that made the match more difficult for us."

Striker Moncef Zerka agreed, saying that "the match lacked a fair referee.' He added, "This defeat is very disappointing because we were looking at the match as our opportunity to qualify for the second round. But now, this will have to be postponed. We hope to win in our match against Ghana."

For team captain Youssef Safri, the match didn't show Morocco's full potential. "We shouldn't have been defeated," he said. "Now we have to prepare for the match against the hosts, which will be very difficult. I hope we'll be well prepared, because we have no other option but to win in that match to qualify to the second round."

With the disappointing defeat, the Moroccan team now has three points from one win. Ghana, fresh off a win over Namibia, has six points on two victories. Guinea is tied with Morocco with three points, and Namibia trails with zero.