adminsuperior goal difference enabled the hosts to stay above the debutants, whose fairy-tale continued with a 2-1 win over Angola in Port Elizabeth.
Issam El Adoua and Abdelilah Hafidi put the Atlas Lions ahead in this Indian Ocean city only for May Mahlangu and Siyabonga Sangweni to equalise and condemn Morocco to a fourth consecutive first round exit.
Morocco made making five changes from the team that came alive only in the closing stages of a midweek 1-1 draw with Cape Verde.
In came Ahmed Kantari, Kamel Chafni, Chahir Belghazouani, Youssef Kaddioui and Youssef El Arabi as coach Rachid Taoussi opted for a five-man midfield and among those axed were wide men Nordin Amrabat and Oussama Assaidi.
South Africa, who made a similar number of alterations after being held by Cape Verde in the tournament opener, gave a vote of confidence to the starting line-up in a 2-0 victory over Angola.
Bafana Bafana were stricken by nerves in the early stages as the Atlas Lions attacked from the kick-off to quieten a sell-out 60,000 crowd at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Suspended playmaker Younes Belhanda was not being missed as young Spain-based midfielder Abdelaziz Barrada took control and the home team had several scares before falling behind.
El Adoua rose highest in the heart of the six-yard box to nod in a corner with Khune reacting too slowly as the South African defence was once more exposed at a set piece.
Morocco were comfortably containing the host nation, apart from a Bernard Parker shot from an acute angle that flew across veteran goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri but wide of the far post.
Chafni had a glorious chance to double the advantage just before half-time as he sprung an offside trap and broke clear, but Khune raced outside his box, blocked the ball with his legs and cleared it.
Thuso Phala gave the home crowd a rare reason to cheer eight minutes into the second half with a curling free kick over the wall and it took a diving one-hand save from Lamyaghri to keep the ball out.
There have been concerns for some time about the pace and positioning of South Africa centre-backs Sangweni and captain Bongani Khumalo and they were caught napping again on the hour mark.
Meanwhile, Cape Verde’s fairy-tale run in the Africa Cup of Nations continued yesterday when they qualified for the quarter-finals thanks to a 2-1 win over Angola in a final-round Group A match.
The west African islanders overcame mighty Cameroon to debut at the finals of Africa’s showpiece football event, where they again impressed with draws against hosts South Africa and Morocco before coming from behind to beat the Angolans.
Angola were rewarded for their offensive play after 33 minutes when Amaro delivered a cross and Mateus put Neves under pressure with the ball coming off the Cape Verde skipper and into his own net.
Cape Verde restored parity in the 81st minute when Gege headed home after sustained pressure on Angola and Heldon won the game in the 90th minute as he fired home a rebound after Lama could not hold a fierce shot.
The Black Antelopes of Angola took the game to Cape Verde from the first blast of the whistle, using the wings and long balls.
It was scrappy opening, but Angola were first to settle and continued to attack.
But after eight minutes the outstanding Ryan Mendes’ chipped shot from outside the box came close to giving Cape Verde the lead against the run of play.
Minutes later, Angola skipper Manucho almost profited from a mix-up between goalkeeper Vozinha and skipper Neves, but the Tunisian referee signalled a foul against the big Real Valladolid striker.
Group A Table
P W D L F A Pts
South Africa 3 1 2 0 4 2 5 — qualify
Cape Verde 3 1 2 0 3 2 5 — qualify
Morocco 3 0 3 0 3 3 3
Angola 3 0 1 2 1 4 1 — AFP.
Online Reporter