The Moroccan football team has been riding the wave of their World Cup success, as they recently defeated Brazil 2-1 in a friendly match that was held in Tangier on Saturday.
To put this into perspective, this has been the first-ever victory for Morocco against the 5-time world champions. The semi-finalists of the last World Cup, Morocco, definitely did not hold back on the footballing powerhouse and handed them a loss in their first home game after having a stellar World Cup in Qatar. For the African team, it was Sofiane Boufal and Abdelhamid Sabiri who scored, while Casemiro scored the only goal for the South American team. Nevertheless, the close scoreline would not highlight how tense the entire match went- as tempers frayed in the first half itself, with the Brazilian team complaining to the referees regarding some of the tackles and fouls committed by the Moroccan team.
Morocco Defeated Brazil For The First Time In History
The match was played before 65,000 fans in a completely sold-out Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier, Morocco. The African team tried to make early inroads, but Brazil held steady until a silly mistake from their defensive unit led to the first goal. Rony, the winger from Palmeiras, was playing his debut match with the national team and managed to slot home a sitter in the 13th minute. In the 22nd minute of the game, Brazil was handed another opportunity by the Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, but they failed to convert it. When Vinicius did manage to shoot it into the goal, it was ruled out by VAR.
In just the next play, Emerson Royal’s defensive blunder led to Bilal El Khannous assisting Sofiane Boufal in scoring from a close range. Ziyech had a few chances that he missed before Casemiro equalized for the South American giants. But it was all for naught, as Abdelhamid Sabiri, the super sub, took an unassailable lead just 12 minutes after Casemiro’s strike. Needless to say, this goal sparked off celebrations among the team and their fans.
