3 Things We Learned From Morocco’s #AFCON2019 Group Stage 🇲🇦🦁

After picking up 9 points out of 9 without conceding a goal, the Atlas Lions have qualified for the knockout stages of AFCON 2019 as winners of Group D.

There have been many positives from the last three games after a lot of negativity before the tournament started. There had been both on and off the field troubles that threatened to kill off Morocco’s AFCON hopes before they had even started.

A last gasp victory over Namibia in the opening fixture was massive. Even though the performance was far from perfect in the Cairo heat, those three points took a lot of pressure off the team ahead of the two tougher Group D fixtures.

Against Ivory Coast, it was a textbook Hervé Renard showing, with superb pressing and decent attacking play being crucial in another 1-0 victory which should have been more.

And the final group game with South Africa wasn’t as impressive, but the team kept pushing until the end and came out deserved winners, continuing their 100% record at the tournament.

Here are some things that we have learned from AFCON 2019 so far:

Boussoufa is rolling back the years

Before the competition started, I along with many other Moroccans were worried about Mbark Boussoufa’s match fitness after only playing a dozen or so games for Al Shabab this season. However, he’s surprised us all with his performances. His ability to press and spring attacks has been vital. Against Ivory Coast, Boussoufa, El Ahmadi and Belhanda worked brilliantly in the midfield and completely bossed the game. His goal against South Africa was a great moment and topped off his group stage showing. He’ll be crucial in the knockout stages.

Ziyech is exhausted

A lot of Morocco’s AFCON 2019 chances were relying on Hakim Ziyech to have an incredible tournament. Unfortunately, he hasn’t really looked himself, and I’d have to put that down to fatigue. After a long season with Ajax, Ziyech has looked far from his best in Egypt. Against Namibia especially, he was almost trying too hard to score, choosing to shoot from unlikely angles rather than look for a pass to a teammate. There’s no faulting his effort and he still is showing glimpses of his undoubted ability. Hopefully, the few days rest before the last 16 tie recharges his batteries and we see the best of Hakim Ziyech in the knockout stages.

1-0 to the Atlas Lions

Three group games, three 1-0 wins. There’s two sides to look at this. The positive in me sees that it’s three clean sheets and the defensive showing from Morocco has been impressive. Between Bounou and Munir in goal, I can only remember our opponents forcing one top save between the two of them. After conceding three against Zambia in the final warm-up game in an awful defensive performance, its been pleasing to see a more solid and assured defensive line in Egypt, with Medhi Benatia and Romain Saiss performing particularly well in the heart of the defence.

However, the negative side of me looks at the goal tally of just three as cause for concern. Against Namibia, we really struggled to get Youssef En-Nesyri into the game and create any clear opportunities. Ivory Coast was a lot better in attack, with Nordin Amrabat providing a lot of guile and directness on the wing and En-Nesyri was a lot more involved- he could and should have had more than his one goal on the night. Seven shots on target in the South Africa game shows chances were being created, but the finishing needs to improve when the pressure intensifies in the big knockout matches.