Online Reporter
Morocco had their own Scott McTominay to thank as Scotland’s World Cup opponents opened the Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-0 victory over Comoros in front of a capacity home crowd.
Ayoub El Kaabi’s stunning overhead kick, reminiscent of the Scotland midfielder’s iconic strike in the recent World Cup qualifier against Denmark, sealed the three points with 15 minutes remaining for the tournament hosts after Brahim Diaz opened the scoring 10 minutes after half-time.
It was a goal worth officially announcing the beginning of Africa’s biggest showcase.
The victory over the side ranked 108th in the world in front of a crowd of 60,180 in Rabat extended the Atlas Lions’ world-record run of consecutive victories to 19.
But what else did we learn about Morocco?
Comoros showed that Morocco, 97 places above them in 11th place in the world rankings, can be frustrated.
Sitting back for much of the first half, they limited the hosts to one on target from seven attempts until the opening goal.
That was despite Morocco peppering the Indian Ocean islanders’ penalty box with 16 crosses before the break, with Mazraoui prominent before eventually setting up Diaz to score.
Regragui’s side pounced the moment Comoros began to be a bit more adventurous shortly after the break and, once ahead, were relentless in pursuit of more goals as they upped the ante.
Vulnerable at the back?
Morocco looked uncomfortable at times when Comoros were, on the rare occasion, able to press high.
They were also caught out a couple of times with long balls through the heart of the defence on the counter-attack.
Standard Liege striker Rafiki Said possibly should have silenced the home shortly after the opener when through on goal only to fire at out-rushing Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou’s legs. Apart from that, Bounou was only troubled once but didn’t look too clever when Youssouf M’Changama attempted an audacious free-kick from all of 50 yards.
For Morocco, this was three points gained without having to call on influential captain Achraf Hakimi, who was only fit for the bench after suffering an ankle injury playing for Paris St-Germain in a Champions League game in early November.
El Kaabi was himself a substitute before the 32-year-old Olympiacos striker made a sensational goalscoring entrance with 25 minutes remaining. OK, he did not quite rise as high off the ground as McTominay, but it was greeted with similar gasps inside his home stadium.
Morocco’s depth will be tested more in tougher challenges ahead, starting with Mali on Boxing Day and then Zambia on 29 December. — BBC Sport/Zimpapers Sports Hub.
