Full of news, Selection loses to Morocco in the first game after the World Cup

by time news

In the first match after the 2022 World Cup, the Brazilian team lost 2-1 to Morocco, this Saturday, in a friendly match held at Ibn Batouta Stadium, in Tangier, Morocco. Boufal and Sabiri scored the hosts’ goals. On the other side, Casemiro cashed. This, by the way, was the first victory of the Moroccans over the Brazilians in history.

Brazil arrived completely revamped for this first friendly, starting with the technical command. Tite and his assistants left office after Qatar’s elimination in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, to Croatia. Still without a defined replacement, the Selection had the interim Ramon Menezes.

Without Neymar and other experienced names from the last generation, such as Alisson and Thiago Silva, the call-up for this friendly had only nine athletes who played in the last Cup.

On the other side of the confrontation, Morocco found its fans after a historic campaign in the last World Cup. Exceeding expectations, the Moroccans were the big surprise of the tournament and finished the competition in fourth place, after falling to France in the semifinals.

After this clash with Morocco, the Brazilian team has no new commitments scheduled. The next FIFA Date is scheduled to take place from the 12th to the 20th of June.

The game – Brazil started the first half dominating possession of the ball. The team, however, struggled to find spaces in the strong Moroccan defense. The first real goal chance came in the 12th minute. Rony received a great pass from Lucas Paquetá and, facing Bounou’s goal, shot over it.

The owners of the house responded at 22. Mazraoui was triggered with freedom on the left end, cut to the middle and hit with great danger on the left.

And the scare animated the Brazilians. With 23 minutes, the Selection increased its marking and recovered the ball at the edge of the area. Andrey took a risk from afar and stopped in defense of Bounou. Then Vinicius Jr. received a good launch on the left wing, took advantage of the goalkeeper’s hesitation and touched the back of the goal. The goal, however, was disallowed for offside.

Already at 29 minutes, the net finally swung for real, but the Africans scored. Emerson Royal lost the ball on the edge of the area and saw El Khannouss receive a free kick in the area. The midfielder then played just right for Boufal, who spun over the marker and finished in the corner to open the scoring.

Moments later, the second almost came out. Ziyech took advantage of the leftover after crossing into the Weverton area and released a shot to the right of the goal.

The Brazilian team, in turn, scared just one more time in the first half, with Rodrygo. Rony was launched on the right end and headed for the number 10, who hit first, but on top.

2nd time

On the way back from the break, Brazil went all out in search of a draw. With just two minutes left, Rodrygo added a beautiful volley from the edge of the area and forced Bounou to make a difficult save.

The selection of Morocco responded to the eight. Ounahi finished from the middle with great effect and almost surprised Weverton. The goalkeeper from Palmeiras, however, showed reaction time and spread it to the side.

Already at 12, the Brazilian team returned to the attack. Rony caught the left after Andrey’s kick and tried the low finish. Halfway through, the rival defense cut to corner and avoided the draw.

Already at 21, nothing prevented the Brazilian goal. Casemiro was freely activated in the middle and corrected a strong kick from below. Bounou failed to catch and let the ball pass, allowing equality. After the goal, some floodlights at the Ibn Batouta Stadium turned off. Thus, the game was paralyzed for a few minutes.

And the joy of the visitors turned out to be short-lived. That’s because, at 33, Morocco was back in front. Antony lost the ball on the right wing and allowed Attiyat Allah to cross into the area. Militão got a puncture when trying to cut and left the measurement for Sabiri. The midfielder then filled his foot to drive the fans crazy.

In the final minutes, Brazil tried to tighten in search of a tie, but struggled to create real chances. Thus, the friendly ended with the defeat of coach Ramon Menezes’ team.

DATASHEET
MOROCCO 2 X 1 BRAZIL

Local: Ibn Batouta Stadium, Tangier, Morocco
Data: March 25, 2023, Saturday
Time: 19:00 (from Brasilia)
Referee: Selmi Sadok (Tunisia)
assistants: Hassani Khalil (Tunisia) e Bakir Mohamed (Tunisia)
Yellow cards: El Khannous, Amrabat (Morocco); Rony (Brazil)

GOALS: Boufal, at 29 in Q1, Sabiri, at 33 in Q2 (Morocco); Casemiro, at 21 of Q2 (Brazil)

MOROCCO: Bounou; Hakimi (Attiyat Allah), Noussaire, Saiss e Nayef; Ounahi (Sabiri), Amrabat e El Khannous; Ziyech, En-Nesyri (Cheddira) e Boufal (Ezzalzouli).
Technician: Walid Reragui

BRAZIL: Weverton, Emerson Royal (Arthur), Militão, Ibañez and Alex Telles; Casemiro, Andrey Santos (Vitor Roque) and Lucas Paquetá (Yuri Alberto); Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo (Raphael Veiga) and Rony (Antony).
Technician: Ramon Menezes (interim)

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