What if Vahid Halilhodzic, Morocco’s coach, has finally worked out the winning formula he’s been looking for? What if, quite simply, he had been right all along despite the heavy criticism he has faced from the Moroccan press and Atlas Lions fans hungry for continental glory after more than three decades of trophy drought and a litany of early exits and disappointments?
While it might be unwise and somewhat insolent to conclusively answer this set of questions, it is equally disingenuous not to see in Morocco’s performance tonight the sense of a team that knows what is at stake and — most importantly perhaps — what to do about it.
With an eye on their second African Nations Cup title, Morocco’s Atlas Lions fixed the Flames of Malawi tonight, beating them 2-1 at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital city. The slim goal gap may not have been the smacking some of the most passionate Atlas Lions expected.
However, given how the match started for Morocco, and given the overwhelming quality and sense of urgency and efficiency the Moroccan Lions evinced when the Malawians stunned them with a brutally beautiful goal in the early stages of the game, tonight was a sort of footballing recital from Halilhodzic team.
In his pre-match press conference yesterday, Morocco’s Bosnian coach revealed his optimism about tonight’s game. He spoke of attacking with fervor and control; he insisted on being mentally resilient and confident in difficult moments; he was adamant about the importance of playing tactical and intelligent football.
And so it turned out for Morocco’s Atlas Lions tonight. In an AFCON tournament that has been particularly stunning for the so-called big teams or favorites — most of the favorites are already out of the tournament — Morocco came into tonight’s game with caution. Still, Malawi’s John Banda surprised the Moroccan Lions with a savage strike at the 7th minute.
At that point, Moroccans surely thought of the AFCON disappointment spell, especially of the cruel 2019 defeat in the round of 16 against underdog Benin. Would tonight be another crushing frustration for Morocco? Malawi surely hoped so. But Achraf Hakmi and his teammates had a different response.
With the PSG right-back’s devastating quality in transition and the dizzying dribles of Salim Amallah and Sofyan Bouffal in sport, as well as the composure in midfield, Malawi only managed to keep its 1-0 advantage for over 30 minutes thanks to the otherworldly performance of Charles Thomu, their goalkeeper.
But Morocco finally scored at the end of the first half, Amalah’s delicious delivery efficiently headed in the Malawian net by Youssef En-Nesyri. The equalizer galvanized Morocco, and it was increasingly visible that, after all, this is not the brilliant but offensively defanged Morocco.
As Morocco’s Atlas Lions grew into the game, penetrating Malawi’s thorny defense, the second half started where the first half had ended: Malawi defending in hopes of containing Morocco’s defense-splitting transition balls and Morocco punching with all their might to collect the victory that would take them to the quarter-finals.
At the 70th minute, the ever brilliant Hakimi rose to the moment by scoring yet another mouthwatering free kick. Hakimi had scored a similar goal against Gabon in the group stages, and he had found the Malawian goalkeeper in the path of an equally celestial free kick in the first half.
And so, by delivering yet another stunner to give Morocco the much-needed winning goal, he might have sent a message to PSG fans who might be calling for more free kicks to be left to the Moroccan at club level.
But for all the beauty and spell-breaking message of tonight’s performance from the Moroccan Atlas Lions, their next round game will be even more challenging. With either Mohammed Salah’s Egypt and the radiant and star-filled Cote D’Ivoire team as their next adversary, Morocco will need another clinical and inspired display to keep their AFCON dreams alive.
