El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Caps Morocco's Win Over Comoros in Afcon First Game.
The the Moroccan side shook off a jittery start to beat their island opponents in the tournament's opening game on the weekend, after strikes by the Real Madrid attacker and super-sub El Kaabi in the second half.
This constituted a far from convincing performance, though, from the heavily tipped Moroccans, who sit 97 places higher than the tiny Indian Ocean nation in the world rankings and were forced to work tirelessly for the three points in wet conditions at Rabat's national stadium.
Tense Beginning and Spurned Chances
Morocco missed an first-half spot-kick and were goalless at the interval even with controlling possession, eventually opening the scoring in the 55th minute.
It came when full-back Mazraoui did well to prevent the ball from going out before slipping it square for Brahim DĂaz to sidefoot home.
Every opening game is always difficult but we delivered in the second half,” said Morocco coach Regragui.
El Kaabi's Moment of Magic
Any lingering nerves was then eased by a piece of pure individual brilliance from Ayoub El Kaabi. Only 10 minutes after coming on, the striker met a ball into the box with a stunning overhead kick in the 74th minute, doubling and ensuring the win.
Before that, the Moroccan team could have been ahead in the 11th minute after a penalty was awarded for a foul on DĂaz. Yet, Rahimi's effort was kept out by Comoros goalkeeper Pandor.
The Visitors' Resistance and Second-Half Opportunity
Comoros comfortably held Morocco at bay until the hosts' superior firepower eventually told.
Shot-stopper Pandor pulled off a number of other fine saves to keep down the score as the match progressed, although his team did have a chance for an equalizer shortly after DĂaz's goal, with SaĂŻd firing directly into keeper Bounou.
Injury Concern for Morocco
The victory was somewhat overshadowed by an injury to the captain, SaĂŻss, who was forced off in the first half apparently in some distress.
The centre-back had just made his comeback to the international setup recently after a year’s layoff due to a serious ankle operation.
This result extends the team's historic run of consecutive wins to nineteen, surpassing the old best of 15 set by Spain from 2008 and 2009.
