By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Editor Abuja
Two second half goals scored by Egyptian super stars, Mohamed Salah in the 53rd minute and old warhorse, Mohamed Trezeguet in 100th minute ensured that Egypt beat Morocco 2-1 despite conceding early after Sofiane Boufal put Morocco ahead via penalty in the 7th minute in the Sunday’s quarter final match of the on-going Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.
With the win, Egypt will meet host country Cameroon in the semi final stage of the competition in what promises to be a real test for Cameroon in their quest to win AFCON 2021 in home turf.
It was a match that was marred by ugly incidents of fisticuffs between the two North African countries known for their high temperaments during matches of the this nature as the center referee, Maguette N’Diaye failed to issue cards to the erring players and officials of Egypt and Morocco.
The Senegalese referee who was assisted by Malick Samba and Djibril Camara, with Sadek Al-Salami as the fourth official as well as the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) led by Fernando Guerrero and assisted by Dahane Beida and Jerson Emiliano failed to issue harsher penalties as they did during the Round of 16 clash between Nigeria’s Super Falcons and Carthage Eagles of Tunisia last Sunday in Garoua.
The Atlas Lions of Morocco should have themselves to blame for losing the match they were expected to win be been lackadaisical in their approach to the encounter from start to finish.
Aside the benefit goal scored by Boufal after Asharaf Hakimi was brought down in the vital area by Egyptian defender early in the opening minutes of the game, Morocco failed to take their chances especially in the first half when it was clear to the blind and loud to the deaf that the Egyptians were not in their elements.
Carlos Queiroz, the Egyptian Head Coach should be commended for the changes he made especially the introduction of Trezeguet who got the winning goal in the first half of the extra time.
Unfortunately for Morocco, Head Coach Vahid Halilhodzic who was hired by Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) in August 2019 failed to read the match well and could not notice that his team lacked bite up front especially after Egypt brought in the naïve third choice goalkeeper in the second half of the extra time.
The Atlas Lions failed to register any shot on target for 20 minutes toward the end of the match hence they crashed out of the competition.
