Saturday | June 17, 2023

South Africa senior men’s football team pulled a shock victory over Morocco in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification at FNB Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg on Saturday.

Morocco are the number one ranked national team in Africa and reached the 2022 World cup semifinals in Qatar where they lost to France by a slender margin.

They lost 2-1 to Bafana Bafana [SA] in Group K’s exhilarating exhibition of the beautiful game. SA drew first blood just five minutes from kickoff when Munir Mohamedi fumbled a Percy Tau cross and the ball ended in the back of the net as an own goal.

Zakhele Lepasa doubled the lead after benefiting from a loose ball that needed a tap in at close range. SA led 2-0.

But the Moroccans did not watch to be run over in foreign land. They halved the deficit in the 60th minute thanks to Hakim Ziyech’s left-footed shot. He came from the right and dropped a shoulder to lose his marker and curled the ball beyond Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwin Williams.

Although both national sides had already qualified for AFCON 2024 to be held in Ivory Coast, last night’s win was a morale booster for Hugo Broos troops.

SA are perched on top of the group with seven points from their four fixtures. With Zimbabwe disqualified from this group, Morocco will play their final match against Liberia in September. To this end, they have accumulated six points from their three games. A point separates them and Bafana Bafana.