Tuesday January 30, 2024
- Stade Laurent Pokou, San Pedro 11pm
Morocco will have to deal with South Africa at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro on Tuesday if they want to go beyond the round of 16 in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations.
The 2022 Fifa World Cup semi-finalists, the first African team to achieve the feat come into the game as favourites but must be wary of threat posed by Bafana Bafana, the last team on the continent to beat them.
The two were paired in the same qualifying group and the 1996 winners came out on top which belief they will carry into the game against the best defence in the tournament.
Hugo Broos’ men started slow with a defeat to Mali but bounced back with a huge 4-0 win over Namibia before drawing with Tunisia while Morocco saw off Tanzania 3-0, drew goalless with DR Congo and beat Zambia 1-0 to top their group.
Their rearguard manned by Westham United Nayef Aguerd and skipper Romain Saïss will however have to deal with the attacking threats of Percy Tau, Themba Zwane and Thapelo Morena will have to contend with one of the best defensive units of the competition in Romain Saïss and Nayef Aguerd.
What the coaches say;
Walid Regragui – Morocco coach
“It’s a knockout match. It’s a change of competition. We can’t afford to make any mistake. We’ve done well so far, but we want to do better. We have a lot of respect for South Africa. They were the last team to beat us on the continent. We’re not in a favourable position, which is why I’m insisting on my group’s humility.
Boufal is out and his TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023 is over. He has a muscular problem and, barring a surprise, we won’t be seeing him again.
Ziyech is also suffering from his ankle. The medical staff and I are doing everything we can to get him back on the pitch. If we have to take a risk with him, we’ll take it”.
Hugo Broos, South Africa coach
“This TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Côte d’ivoire 2023 is full of surprises, as we’ve seen from the start. We already beat Morocco a year ago and we can do it again. Anything is possible and we want to create another surprise in this competition. We’re confident, we believe in ourselves and in what we can do. I think we’ll have to go into this match with the same frame of mind we’ve had recently, but I want us to be at a very high level”.
