El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Caps The Atlas Lions' Triumph Over the Coelacanths in Afcon Opening Match.
The Morocco shook off a nervy start to beat Comoros in the tournament's inaugural fixture on the weekend, thanks to Brahim Díaz and substitute Ayoub El Kaabi in the latter period.
This constituted a less than dominant performance, however, from the heavily tipped Moroccans, who sit 97 places above the tiny island nation in the world rankings and were forced to work tirelessly for the three points in rainy conditions at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.
Tense Start and Spurned Chances
Morocco missed an early penalty and were locked at 0-0 at the interval despite dominating the ball, finally opening the scoring in the 11th minute of the second half.
It arrived after Noussair Mazraoui did well to prevent the ball from going out before slipping it across for Brahim Díaz to sidefoot home.
“The opening game is always difficult but we delivered in the second half,” commented Morocco coach Walid Regragui.
El Kaabi's Piece of Brilliance
The tension was subsequently extinguished by a piece of sheer individual brilliance from substitute El Kaabi. Only 10 minutes after coming on, the striker met a cross with a spectacular overhead kick in the 74th minute, making it two and ensuring the win.
Before that, the hosts could have been ahead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was awarded for a challenge on Díaz. However, Soufiane Rahimi effort was kept out by keeper Yannick Pandor.
Comoros Resistance and Second-Half Opportunity
Comoros stoutly defended against their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the Moroccans' greater quality in the end made the difference.
Shot-stopper Pandor made several further good stops to limit the score as the match progressed, even though Comoros did have a chance for an equalizer shortly after Díaz's goal, with Rafiki Saïd shooting straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.
Injury Worry for Hosts
The victory was somewhat overshadowed by an injury to Morocco's skipper, Saïss, who limped off in the first half apparently in tears.
This centre-back had only returned to the international setup recently following a lengthy absence due to ankle surgery.
The win continues the team's historic run of consecutive wins to 19, surpassing the previous record of 15 set by the Spanish national team from 2008 and 2009.
