2024-04-22 03:09:33
After their good opening performance against Tanzania, sanctioned by a convincing 3-0 victory, Walid Regragui’s men will be called upon to ensure their qualification for the round of 16 by challenging a DR Congolese team, who will have their backs to the wall after having drawn against Zambia (1-1).
After having achieved the essential by succeeding in their first outing, Achraf Hakimi’s teammates must now press on, in order to bend the debates in their favor.
However, the scheduling of this match at 2:00 p.m. (local time) poses a serious problem for the Moroccan players, but also for all the participating selections.
“I don’t know how we’re going to play this match at 2 p.m.! But we have to adapt and face all the constraints,” declared national coach Walid Regragui.
An attitude also shared by Senegal midfielder Sadio Mané, who expressed his dissatisfaction at seeing CAN matches scheduled at such a time.
“I think it’s sad to see that we have to play at 2 p.m. in this day and age. It’s bad for football,” he said.
If the DR Congo harbors regrets after conceding the draw against Zambia on the first day, while they controlled the game head and shoulders, a defeat against the Atlas Lions will be doubly bitter .
Indeed, the Leopards will always remember their elimination in the Qatar-2022 World Cup play-off against Morocco (draw in Kinshasa 1-1, Morocco victory in Casablanca 4-1). They will therefore compete in this meeting with the objective of taking their revenge and rectifying the situation before it is too late.
“I regret that my attackers were not able to put the ball in the net more than once with all the chances we had. We were valiant, enterprising, we played great football but unfortunately we can regret all our missed opportunities,” said Leopards coach Sébastien Desabre in a post-match press conference.
“We will recover well. Of course we will still be valiant. It was not a final. There are still two finals and the ambition is to win the next two matches. I especially hope that my attackers will be more effective”, he added.
On the Atlas Lions side, the objective will be to continue on the same momentum in order to strengthen confidence and play the last match against Zambia with peace of mind and without pressure.
The Moroccan football team faced its counterpart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 16 occasions, during which Morocco won 5 matches, the DRC won 3 and 8 matches ended in a draw.
If the Atlas Lions have always had enormous difficulty beating the Leopards in the final phase of the CAN (1 victory, 3 draws and 1 defeat), the only time the Moroccans won was in 1976 in Ethiopia , the year which was marked by the sole and final coronation of the Moroccan team in CAN. The Atlas Lions got the better of the Congolese 1 goal to 0, thanks to a goal from Abdelaali Zahraoui.
At the end of the first day of group F, Morocco is in the lead with 3 points, ahead of DR Congo and Zambia (1 pt each), while Tanzania occupies last place without the slightest unit.
2024-04-22 03:09:33