Atlas Lions can roar again in final group game
MOROCCO, their place in the knockout stage secured, get a chance to confirm their status as Africa’s top football nation when they complete their round robin phase assignments of the Africa Cup of Nations with a Group F clash against Zambia tonight.
The Atlas Lions, the first country from the continent to reach a World Cup semi-final, are ranked No 1 in Africa and expectations are that they will confirm their lofty status by winning the Afcon for only the second time.
And when they opened their account with a 3-0 demolition of Tanzania, it appeared the 1976 champions were sending a statement to the rest of the contenders that they mean business.
A fantastic start in their second match against the Democratic Republic of Congo – they scored with the game just six minutes old – got many anticipating another walk in the park for the favourites.
But that was not how it ended up as Morocco took their foot off the pedal and eventually ended up sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw. As it was, they were fortunate in that the DRC’s Vincent Bakumba missed a first half spot-kick.
They now face a potential banana skin in the form of a Zambia outfit that would be wounded after their shock failure to beat Tanzania’s
Taifa Stars but still in with a chance of progressing past the group stage.
It makes for a fascinating clash, what with Morocco not guaranteed top spot, as failure to win and a victory for the DRC over Tanzania would mean that the DRC would finish first.
Zambia can sneak in via the back door should they get a draw tonight as they will finish on three points with a goal difference that will definitely be good enough to see them be one of the four best third-placed finishers from the six groups.
Clashes between the two teams at Afcon finals have been tightly contested affairs with Morocco enjoying the upper hand after winning 1-0 back in 1986 while their other clash at the 1998 edition finished 1-1.
The big question, then, is which version of these two sides will pitch up at the Stade de San Pedro?
Will the Atlas Lions roar with the same intensity they did in Qatar where skipper Achraf Hakim’s marauding forays on the flank created havoc for the opposition? Or will they turn up as that lacklustre outfit which got beaten by Bafana Bafana in the qualifiers, the one that struggled to get past the DRC just the other day?
The Zambians have just not showed up yet in Ivory Coast and their fans no doubt will be hoping they got a proper wake-up call from their clash with Tanzania and that they will see the veteran Stopilla Sunzu rediscover the form and spirit of 2012, when he helped Chipolopolo to the title in Gabon.
Such have been the results of this tournament so far, though, that no result can be ruled out, and while Morocco are guaranteed progression, all of the other three teams in Group F are still in with a shout.
Tanzania need only beat the DRC to register what would be a historic maiden win at the Afcon and make into the knockouts.
Both matches are set for 10pm kick-offs.