In the second match of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the troubled Moroccan side will face off against Angola – a team that could be regarded as the dark horses of the group. The Sable Antelopes, as the Angolan side is known, have never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the tournament, but they have come to South Africa to outdo their previous performance. They cannot be underestimated.
While they are one of the best teams on the African continent, Morocco have problems of their own. They newly-appointed coach, Rachid Taoussi has made it clear that he wants to ring changes in that team and he’s kept his word. But whether those changes will eventually be to the benefit of his team in such a rigorous tournament remains to be seen.
The exclusion of some of the country’s best players, Marouane Chamakh, Adel Taarabt and Houssine Kharja could backfire on the team in a tournament where teams need their best players on the field. Further exacerbating matters for the Lions of the Atlas, as the Moroccan side is affectionately known, they had their Afcon plans thrown into disarray when they lost Mehdi Namli due to a serious injury in their friendly match against Bidvest Wits earlier in the week.
The exclusion of some of the country’s best players, Marouane Chamakh, Adel Taarabt and Houssine Kharja could backfire on the team in a tournament where teams need their best players on the field.
However, on their day they can bring almost any African team down to its knees. They have the skill, with lots of mobility, which makes it difficult for opposition to deal with them. Their defence has been not been convincing enough during the qualifiers, but they have a very sharp striking force in the likes of Younes Belhanda and Assaidi El-Arabi compensates for their defensive woes.
But Morocco are facing a solid side. The Angolan side has been playing together for almost three years now. They have proved to mean business when they beat defending champions, Zambia, Botswana and Rwanda en route to South Africa.
They have a very hard-to-penetrated defence, which will have the Moroccan strike force’s work cut out. The team’s No.: striker, Manucho has come out saying that they want to do outdo their previous Afcon performances, having been knocked out in the quarterfinals of the 2008 and 2010 editions.
If the die-hard attitude they have displayed during the qualifiers is anything to go by, they could definitely do better that just the quarterfinals. After losing to Zimbabwe 3-1 in the qualifiers, their Afcon dream seemed to have faded. However, that was when their undying spirit kicked and they went on to score two goals, within the first 10 minutes of the return match by Manucho, winning 2-0 to advance on an away goal rule on 3-3 aggregate. Taken lightly, this is the one team that could well top Group A.
NB: Angola has never beaten Morocco before – they have met five times and Angola lost four times with just one draw.
Players that could turn on the magic:
Morocco: Younes Belhanda, Assaidi El-Arabi, Abdelaziz Barrada
Angola: Manucho, Gilberto Mateus, Djalma Campos
– By Sipho Kekana
