El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Secures The Atlas Lions' Win Over the Coelacanths in Afcon First Game.
The Morocco shook off a nervy start to overcome Comoros in the competition's inaugural fixture on the weekend, with goals from the Real Madrid attacker and substitute Ayoub El Kaabi in the second half.
This constituted a far from convincing display, however, from the strongly favored Moroccans, who sit 97 places above the tiny island nation in the FIFA rankings and were forced to toil hard for the victory in wet conditions at the national stadium.
Nervy Start and Missed Opportunities
Morocco missed an first-half penalty and were locked at 0-0 at half-time even with controlling the ball, eventually opening the scoring in the 55th minute.
The goal arrived after full-back Mazraoui showed great skill to prevent the ball from going out before laying it across for Díaz to sidefoot into the net.
Every first match is invariably tough but we came good in the second period,” commented Morocco coach Walid Regragui.
The Substitute's Moment of Brilliance
Any lingering nerves was then calmed by a piece of sheer genius from Ayoub El Kaabi. Just 10 minutes after his introduction, the striker connected with a ball into the box with a spectacular overhead kick in the 74th minute, making it two and ensuring the win.
Before that, the Moroccan team could have been ahead in the 11th minute after a spot-kick was given for a foul on Díaz. However, Rahimi's effort was saved by keeper Yannick Pandor.
Comoros Resistance and Second-Half Opportunity
Comoros comfortably held their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the hosts' greater quality eventually made the difference.
Shot-stopper Yannick Pandor made several further fine saves to limit the score as the game progressed, even though his team did have a clear opportunity for an equalizer shortly following Díaz's goal, with Saïd shooting directly into keeper Yassine Bounou.
Injury Worry for Hosts
The victory was somewhat marred by an injury to Morocco's skipper, Romain Saïss, who limped off in the first half in some distress.
The defender had just returned to the national side last month after a year’s layoff due to a serious ankle operation.
This result continues Morocco's record-breaking run of successive victories to nineteen, surpassing the old best of 15 set by Spain from 2008 and 2009.
