Tangiers (AFP)
The Moroccan national team continued to write history, and its wonderful performances, which dazzled everyone in the “World Cup 2022” by its fourth place, when it achieved a historic victory over its Brazilian guest 2-1, at Ibn Battuta Stadium in Tangiers, and in front of 65,000 spectators in an international friendly match.
Sofiane Boufal (29) and Abdel Hamid Al Sabiri (79) scored the goals for Morocco, and Casemiro (67) scored the goal for Brazil.
It is Morocco’s first victory over Brazil in three confrontations that have brought them together so far, after losing to it twice, the first in a friendly in 1997 in Belém, where it made a good show, before falling with two goals in the last ten minutes scored by Denilson «80 and 88», and the second one year later. , in the group stage in the 1998 World Cup in France in Nantes by three, it took turns to be scored by Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Bebeto.
The “Atlas Lions” presented a great match, and stood equal to the stars of “The Seleção”, especially the Spanish Real Madrid wingers Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo, and they were able to achieve a well-deserved victory over the world’s first seed, which is the first for an Arab team over the five-time world champion.
Morocco also became the second team from the “brown continent” to succeed in defeating Brazil, after Cameroon, which it defeated 1-0 in the last round of the group stage of the Qatar World Cup.
The first match was for the Moroccan national team, after its historic career in the World Cup in Qatar, when it achieved remarkable victories over Belgium, Canada, Spain and Portugal, and became the first African and Arab team to reach the semi-finals, before being eliminated by France, the 2018 champion, who lost the Doha final to Argentina.
Morocco coach Walid Regragui commented after the match, saying: “We achieved what we aspired to, which is the happiness of the huge fans who came to support us, and I think we were on time with this historic victory over a great team that has many stars and talents.”
He added, “Our message is that we are keen to prepare a team that fights on the field. Whether we win or lose, we always play with this fighting spirit to achieve the best results.”
Coach Regragui pushed his starting line-up, which did well in Qatar and witnessed one amendment, by bringing in promising Belgian Genk midfielder Bilal Al-Khanous, at the expense of Spanish Valladolid player Salim Amlah, who was absent due to injury.
French Paris Saint-Germain defender Ashraf Hakimi participated in the main, after suspicion swirled around him due to an injury that kept him out of action in the last two weeks.
It was also the first match for the Brazilian national team since its disappointing exit from the quarter-finals on penalties against Croatia.
Brazil played the match in the absence of its defense poles Marquinhos “Saint-Germain” and veteran Thiago Silva “Chelsea of England”, and its striker Richarlison “Tottenham of England”, and its star Neymar “Saint-Germain” due to injury, and under the leadership of its interim coach Ramon Menezes awaiting the contract with a successor to Titi who resigned from his post. After the Qatar World Cup.
Menezes summoned 10 players who were present at the World Cup.
The Moroccan fans, who filled the entire stands of Ibn Battuta Stadium, observed a minute of silence in honor of the legend Pele, who passed away on December 29, and the “Selesao” players wore shirts with the name “Black Jewel” written on them.
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