That’s all from me for this evening. A night on which Morocco reaffirmed their status as Africa Cup of Nations favourites, albeit against the minnows of Tanzania. S’pose you can only beat what’s in front of you! Bye for now.
Want more live football? Well there’s more live football for you. Scott Murray is all over this evening’s FA Cup third round replay action. Watch the football, it’s gonna move!
What are we to make of that? Well, DR Congo v Zambia later today might tell us whether Morocco will face stiffer tests in Group F than this.
They’re shoo-ins for the knockout stages already.
FULL TIME
It ends Morocco 3-0 Tanzania.
A game that caught fire, from a Moroccan perspective, after they were given the helping hand of a Tanzania red card. Novatus Miroshi’s reckless second yellow opened the floodgates for the Atlas Lions, who made no mistake in punishing their opponents with quickfire late goals from Azzeddine Ounahi and Youssef En Nesyri. Ounahi was the standout performer and his goal was a genuine delight.
All that was after Romain Saiss’s rebound goal proved virtually the only highlight of a tepid first half. So Morocco start their campaign as AFCON favourites with a routine victory but be sure that tougher tests await.
“Amrabat has been imperious?! Lads, it’s Tanzania,” says Peter Oh via email.
Numbers 2 and 3 for Morocco here, for your viewing.
It's TWO for Morocco! 🇲🇦
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 17, 2024
What a swift move, beautifully finished by Azzedine Ounahi 👏 pic.twitter.com/8OJXp1Z5ET
Morocco are running away with the game 😮💨
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 17, 2024
After a lengthy VAR check, Youssef En-Nesyri goal stands to make it 3️⃣-0️⃣! pic.twitter.com/L4BTGNNKGn
90 mins + 2: Amrabat continues to spread the play and, after Manula makes a bit of a mess of saving one shot, he then recovers to made a decent sprawling stop to deny El Khannous on the follow-up. It was so nearly 4-0.
Into six minutes of added time at the end of the 90. Morocco are in cruise mode.
89 mins: Tanzania have run out of ideas and run out of energy here in San Pedro.
For 70 minutes or more, they made a decent fist of this and they might fancy their chances against DR Congo and Zambia, the two other sides in Group F.
86 mins: “Amrabat has been imperious,” says the Sky Sports commentator. Make of that what you will, Manchester United fans.
Boufal has been full of endeavour since coming on, seemingly determined to get in on the act.
85 mins: The Atlas Lions have truly hit top gear since the Miroshi red card. Before that, Tanzania had shown some decent impetus and 1-0 was an uncomfortable scoreline for sure.
Now, 4-0 or 5-0 looks more likely as Morocco seek to press home their advantage.
Updated
83 mins: Amid all that chaos, Morocco made three changes, with En Nesyri, Ziyech and Ounahi now all removed as they get a well-deserved rest.
Sofiane Boufal is among the players introduced.
GOAL! Morocco 3-0 Tanzania (En Nesyri, 80)
The goal stands after all! After some confusion, it’s rightly given, En Nesyri was indeed onside as he tucked it home from an inch-perfect cross.
Updated
80 mins: Goal? It’s really opened up for Morocco now and En Nesyri slots home what he thinks is a third goal …
There’s a hint of offside and VAR are taking a look.
Updated
GOAL! Morocco 2-0 Tanzania (Ounahi, 77)
Sensational stuff from Azzedine Ounahi, guiding home a brilliant second!
The Marseille player has been really impressive today and he shimmies into space on the edge of the box, plays a give-and-go with El Khannous and then slots it into the far corner, low and precise. That should be the game!
Updated
76 mins: Hakimi thinks he’s been fouled as he steams down the right … and he really should have got a free-kick.
It eventually falls for Ziyech but Morocco can’t quite squeeze it home, despite piling bodies into the box.
74 mins: Surely Morocco will find that second goal now. Tanzania will have real trouble playing through them with just 10 men.
There’s plenty of fighting spirit still on display from the lower-ranked nation, mind you.
72 mins: As the Taifa Stars players continue their protests to the referee, Morocca bring on El Khannous for Amallah in midfield. Miroshi has only just trudged off; he really didn’t want to go.
RED CARD! Miroshi (Tanzania)
A second yellow for Miroshi! Tanzania have been ultra-aggressive in this second half and it’s backfired now. The referee gives the Shakhtar Donetsk player his marching orders.
He ought to have no complaints. It was another late, late challenge, nowhere near the ball.
Updated
70 mins: Samatta’s race is run, he’s going to be replaced Feti Toto.
As long as this is 1-0, Tanzania will believe.
68 mins: Every time I type or hear the name Ounahi, I just hear Ross Geller from Friends.
Just me? Fair enough.
67 mins: Tell you what, Morocco aren’t fussed about having too much of the ball, are they? Tanzania have enjoyed plenty of it, mainly passing it between their defenders before losing it when they try to advance.
Ounahi curls one over from 20 yards or so after a fast-flowing Moroccan move.
64 mins: Drinks break No 2 is upon us.
63 mins: Ezzalzouli has taken another whack on the ankle following a scything, nigh-on dangerous tackle from Mnoga. Will VAR take a look? Nope, looks like just a yellow card.
Updated
61 mins: Chibi and M’Mombwa are both booked after a brief bout of handbags. The referee standing for no nonsense.
60 mins: En Nesyri twists and turns and ends up running the ball out of play for a Tanzania goal kick.
The Taifa Stars have made life more difficult for their prestigious opponents since the break, that’s for certain.
59 mins: It’s almost like Morocco are waiting it out, sensing they’ll get more opportunities late in the game if they can quash this Tanzanian spell. And few nations are as good as the Atlas Lions when it comes to quashing attacking spells.
57 mins: The game has become incredibly stop-start, although Tanzania are offering more of a threat, it has to be said.
54 mins: Ounahi is the latest Morocco player to stay on the ground after a, ahem, combative Tanzania challenge. Looks like he took a bash to the ankle.
A question on email from Joe Pearson:
So Tanzania have made two subs. Does that mean they’ve also used two of their three windows? Or are substitution rules different at AFCON?
I believe half-time doesn’t count as a ‘window’ for a substitution in any competition.
51 mins: A big chance for En Nesyri! The ball in from the right flank was inch-perfect from Ounahi and the striker had the goal at his mercy, but couldn’t get his finish right. Maybe the goalkeeper did enough to put him off.
49 mins: It looks, for sure, like we’re going to get a more adventurous Tanzania in this second half, winning a corner after another long range shot.
The corner is too long, however, from Miroshi.
47 mins: Miroshi tries an extremely ambitious long range effort – powering way over the bar from at least 30 yards. At least it means Tanzania have had a shot …
46 mins: Tanzania have made another change, with Morice Abraham coming on in midfield. That’s two subs used already.
SECOND HALF
We’re back out and away once more. Peeeeep!
Almost time to get back under way in San Pedro. The only hope of a competitive second half is if Tanzania can somehow get their captain, Mbwana Samatta, on the ball in attacking areas. And if Morocco continue to be profligate.
Let’s find out.
Some news from the Cameroon camp to bring you, as I grab a half-time refreshment.
HALF TIME
The referee calls time on a very one-sided half of football. It’s been all Morocco, although they took 25 minutes or so to really get going, eventually finding the crucial goal from a Tanzania mistake, Aishi Manula parrying into the path of Romain Saiss who netted on the rebound. They could have scored more since, while Bono has been a complete spectator in the Atlas Lions’ goal, not forced into a save of any kind.
Morocco will surely add to their tally after the break, unless Tanzania can summon something special on a rare foray forward.
Updated
Three minutes added on: Tanzania continue to hack it long, looking for Samatta, but to no avail so far.
45 mins: Some party pieces from Ounahi as he tries to evade pressure in the corner. Nice skills on display. Morocco are sensing a vital second as Ziyech is tackled last-ditch in the box. No murmurs of a penalty, but he ought to have got a shot away.
42 mins: As we approach half-time, it seems the best Tanzania can hope for is to get to the interval with the scoreline 1-0. As Morocco have grown in confidence, Tanzania have become ever more ragged, the gulf in class showing.
Wisely, they’re just slowing things down at the moment.
Updated
39 mins: Another big chance for Morocco, which Ezzalzouli creates for himself, but he then blasts over as the angle tightened.
38 mins: The Taifa Stars are bringing on an early sub, Simon Msuva replacing Tarryn Allarakhia, who has barely had a kick.
37 mins: A superb flowing Morocco move ends with Ziyech in an ominous position, trying to arrow home from inside the box with his favoured left foot, but only finding the gloves of Manula. Corner again.
Updated
This is the goal that separates the sides.
Morocco take the lead! 🇲🇦
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 17, 2024
A powerful free-kick from Hakim Ziyech is saved and Romain Saïss is there for the rebound! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/3YNKhwwf61
35 mins: Sofyan Amrabat is playing as a quarterback for Morocco now; dictating the game in a fashion seldom seen during his Manchester United loan stint. In fairness, the quality of opponent is rather different.
33 mins: Ziyech powered it into the six-yard box from a tight angle and found En Nesyri, but he could only head it over.
32 mins: Tanzania’s frustration is starting to show, as Miroshi goes into the book for an ill-timed slide tackle on Ounahi. It’s another free-kick for Morocco, with Ziyech starting to strut his stuff now.
GOAL! Morocco 1-0 Tanzania (Saiss, 30)
The captain on the follow-up!
Ziyech opted for a shot rather than a cross from the free-kick and his thumping left-footed effort was too hot for the goalkeeper Manula to handle. He could only spill it in front of him and Romain Saiss was more alert than anyone else, slotting it home.
Updated
29 mins: A decent break from Chibi, bursting forward an into the box from left-back, but Tanzania get bodies across to thwart his cross … En Nesyri was waiting for a potential tap-in.
Morocco now have a free-kick in a decent spot to send it into the mixer.
27 mins: We’ve restarted, by the way, though very little has happened since the hydration hiatus. Morocco are probing without much penetration.
24 mins: Time for a drink’s break after a quiet opening quarter. Morocco have been on top, but they’ve created next to nothing.
22 mins: Just as I typed that, Tanzania actually got players forward in a breakaway of-sorts, but as it broke up and Ezzalzouli took it clear down the left, he was hacked to the ground by Himid Mao. That tackle earns him the game’s first booking.
20 mins: The whole game has been played in the Tanzania half so far. Ibrahim Hamad has led the defence well, but there’s nothing for them on the counterattack to alleviate the pressure.
19 mins: Tanzania whack it clear after a dangerous left-footed cross from Ziyech.
Hakimi’s cross is then blocked, but still Morocco keep plugging away, trying to win the ball high up and pinning the Taifa Stars back.
17 mins: Morocco coach Walid Regragui is all arms and gestures on the touchline as he watches his side squander possession.
Tanzania are holding their own so far, albeit they can’t really get up the pitch.
15 mins: You’d think the Taifa Stars would be all about safety-first football: play it long, nothing silly, get up the pitch. But they’re actually being quite ambitious playing it round the back – the problem is the Moroccan press is so stifling.
Updated
13 mins: The Ziyech-Hakimi combination is surely unrivalled, in terms of a winger-full back relationship in this tournament. A delicious ball via the outside of the former Chelsea man’s foot finds Hakimi but he runs into trouble in the box.
11 mins: Ezzalzouli has hit the deck after a hefty challenge from Yahya. That was very late but not too dangerous, in fairness.
9 mins: Tanzania are pushing up quite high in defence and it’s inviting long diagonal balls over the top, largely from left to right, aimed at Ziyech.
En Nesyri gets a good chance after a headed knockdown, but he cannot get clean contact on his shot.
6 mins: A first touch of the ball for Bono in the Moroccan goal brings an almighty cheer from the red shirts in the crowd.
5 mins: Samatta does well to carry the ball downfield for Tanzania and induce a needless foul from Chibi, playing at left back for Morocco.
It’s whipped in by Mwamnyeto and En Nesyri then has to be on his mettle to nod to safety as the ball came box into the Atlas Lions’ box. Another set piece for the Taifa Stars.
3 mins: The sun is just starting to set on the coastal town of San Pedro, making for some nice long shadows on the pristine turf.
Morocco are making early inroads on their right side, feeding Hakim Ziyech as much as they can.
1 min: The referee is Alhadi Allaou Mahamat from Chad, by the way.
Morocco on the ball early on.
KICK OFF
We are under way!
The Laurent Pokou Stadium seats 20,000 but is very sparsley populated. A ripple, rather than a roar, greets the referee’s whistle.
Here come the two teams. Tanzania’s blue and yellow striped kit is an absolute belter. Romain Saiss leads out Morocco, in their usual red and green. Time for the anthems and then kick-off.
Updated
Tanzania have never won a match at the Africa Cup of Nations. They’ve never qualified for the World Cup, let alone make the last four like Morocco did little more than a year ago.
If they were to win, or even deny Morocco a win today, it would send shockwaves throughout the continent.
Before kick-off, there’s time to get your ears around the latest, AFCON-flavoured, Football Weekly:
Headphones are mandatory.
وصول منتخبنا الوطني لملعب المباراة
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) January 17, 2024
Our National Team is here 🏟️#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/Pf4Ul1HPxP
Tanzania head coach Adel Amrouche has rowed back slightly on comments he made about the Moroccan Football Federation having too much influence over the African game, in his view. Instead he focused on the footballing ability of the Taifa Stars’ opponents today.
I spoke out a month ago, saying they are one of the best teams in the world. They reached the semi-final. They are not a team that win by luck, they win with their abilities. They deserve.
Today’s stadium in San Pedro is a fairly modest one but the skies are clear and conditions are ideal.
#AFCON2023
— Collins Okinyo (@bedjosessien) January 17, 2024
Atmosphere building up at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro ahead of Morocco 🇲🇦 vs Tanzania 🇹🇿 @soka25east pic.twitter.com/y5dJ9H6xJO
That Morocco lineup wouldn’t be out of place in the top 10 of any of Europe’s premier leagues; it’s packed with quality and experience.
Tanzania, on the other end, are much more of an unknown quantity, ranked 121 in the world (Morocco are 13th – the highest of any nation in this tournament). Tanzania are captained by PAOK striker Mbwana Samatta. They’ll have the backing of anyone fancying an underdog victory.
Team news – Tanzania
Tanzania: Manula, Mnoga, Miroshi, Hamad, Nondo, Hussein, Mao, Abbas, M’Mombwa, Samatta, Allarakhia
Kikosi cha Timu ya Taifa “Taifa Stars” kitakachoanza kwenye mchezo wa AFCON dhidi ya Morocco kwenye uwanja wa Laurent Pokou (Stade Laurent Pokou), Ivory Coast.
— TFF TANZANIA (@Tanfootball) January 17, 2024
@TaifaStars_ @CAF_Online #AFCON2023 #AFRICANFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/0BygVClv2H
Team news - Morocco
Morocco: Bounou, Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Chibi, Amrabat, Amallah, Ounahi, Ziyech, Ezzalzouli, En-Nesyri
تشكيلة المنتخب الوطني أمام منتخب تنزانيا
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) January 17, 2024
📋 National Team lineup against Tanzania#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/5ifYZAeJLg
Preamble
Welcome to another day in the Africa Cup of Nations and the start of Morocco’s campaign, as they face the unfancied Tanzania at Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro.
Expectations are sky-high for the Atlas Lions going into this tournament, after their historic run to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar at the end of 2022. Yet Morocco have just one AFCON triumph to their name (way back in the 1970s) and they’re not used to being pre-tournament favourites. Still, with a star-studded squad including goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Manchester United’s Sofyan Amrabat and the world class full back Achraf Hakimi you would expect them to come through today’s test and avoid the kind of ignominious start to AFCON that other big names, such as Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria, have endured.
Kick off is at 5pm UK time. Team news will be dropping shortly. In the mean-time, here’s Yara El-Shaboury’s excellent profile of Morocco and where they stand right now.
