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Tuesday Football
29 January 2008
by Jerrad Peters

African Nations Cup
Morocco bowed out of the African Nations Cup, yesterday. After opening the competition with a convincing 5-1 route of Namibia, back-to-back losses to Guinea and Ghana had the Lions of the Atlas packing their bags at the conclusion of the group phase. It was an altogether disappointing tournament for manager Henri Michel and his players. The substandard performances, particularly in the 3-2 loss to Guinea, mark the fourth time in five Nations Cup appearances that Morocco have failed to progress into the knock-out stages.

Full credit to Guinea, however. The Syli Nationale burst out of the gate by pushing hosts Ghana to the limit. And while the victory over Morocco caught many by surprise, captain Pascal Feindouno was nothing short of sublime in the win; and, had he not been sent-off shortly after the hour-mark, Guinea might well have scored five or six.

With Feindouno serving his one-match ban against Namibia on Monday, Guinea entered their final Group A fixture against Namibia with no small amount of caution. Needing only a win to book their place in the quarterfinals, manager Robert Nouzaret emphasized increased concentration among a defensive corps which had conceded twice in each of its previous matches.

Nevertheless, Ismael Bangoura produced Guinea’s first, quality scoring opportunity shortly after kick-off. The 23-year-old Dynamo Kiev forward volleyed just wide of goalkeeper Athiel Mbaha after a Fode Mansare cross from the left flank. Mbaha was called into action again just four minutes later when he redirected a Daouda Jabi free-kick away from goal.

Under pressure, Namibia countered through Brian Brendall. The 21-year-old FC Civics midfielder sped upfield before crossing to Muna Katupose. The Oshakati City forward headed well wide, however; and Guinea defender Bobo Balde disrupted a similar play just minutes later.

The tentative match finally got its first goal shortly after the hour-mark. Mamadou Bah’s superb through-ball found Souleymane Youla in front of Mbaha and the Lille marksman made no mistake – depositing his effort behind the ‘keeper in the 62nd minute.

With Guinea closing in on the three points, more questionable defending allowed Namibia to poach an equalizer. After a miss-places pass in the backline, Brendall pounced on the ball to the right of goal, beat the remaining defenders, and blasted past Kemeko Camara.

Truth be told, a draw was a fair result. But Nouzaret would be the first to admit that his side’s defending must improve if Guinea stand any chance of progressing through to the semifinals. They will face Cote d’Ivoire in the last-eight on Sunday.

Morocco, meanwhile, completed a week-long demise in Accra, Monday. That said, the Lions of the Atlas made a positive start to their match against Ghana.

The opening half-hour saw both sides creating numerous opportunities. Sulley Muntari’s 30-yard free-kick in the 15th-minute was saved by Morocco goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri. The Portsmouth midfielder, renowned for his goalscoring prowess from distance, earned a similar set-piece eleven minutes later. But rather than going for goal, as the opposition anticipated, he lobbed the ball over the defending wall and into the path of a surging Michael Essien. The Chelsea midfielder wasted no time in slotting past Lamyaghri; and Morocco’s hopes were dealt an initial blow.

Still, the Lions of the Atlas persisted. With five minutes to play in the opening period, Ghana defender John Paintsil headed the ball into his own goal following a Hicham Aboucherouane free-kick. The equalizer was disallowed, however, as the match official had spotted a foul in the area.

Morocco were right to feel hard done by. They were fully deserving of a balanced scoreline at the interval and, instead, found themselves down by a pair before the restart. In the first minute of injury-time, Essien’s powerful run produced a second, Ghana goal. The 25-year-old darted forward with the ball from the half-way line before completing a marvelous pass to the feet of Muntari. The exciting midfielder made no mistake as he gathered the ball with his left foot and stroked it past Lamyaghri.

From there, Morocco were vanquished. And they knew it. Managing just a single shot on goal in the second-half, the 1976 champions made a meek exit from the 2008 competition. As a matter of fact, the 2-0 score might well have been doubled or even tripled – such was the pressure from the hosts in the final minutes.

With the win, Ghana wrapped-up first-place in Group A. As a result, the Black Stars will be tied to Nigeria in the quarterfinals. After a sluggish start to the tournament, the Super Eagles finally got into stride on Tuesday – defeating Benin by a 2-0 margin while C’ote d’Ivoire eliminated Mali with a 3-0 win.