The hosts registered a 2-0 victory over Comoros
\n RABAT
\nBrahim Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament\u2019s opening game on Sunday.
\nSoufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco, but Diaz fired home from inside the area 10 minutes after the interval at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat.
\nSubstitute El Kaabi then got the second with a stunning overhead kick, and the victory on a wet and cold night sets the Atlas Lions up for the potentially tougher tests to come in Group A against Mali and Zambia.
\nThe result also allowed Morocco, Africa\u2019s best team in the FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend their world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches.
\n\u201cThe match went as we thought it would, because the opening game is always difficult for the host nation due to all the expectation,\u201d said coach Walid Regragui.
\n\u201cWe have been preparing for this for two years so there was a lot of tension.
\n\u201cThe 2-0 scoreline is well deserved, and we could even have scored a third had we not relaxed a little in the last five minutes.
\n\u201cIt is great for the fans but the objective was not to produce our best possible performance in the first match.\u201d
\nThe game was played out before a crowd of 60,180, with Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay Hassan \u2014 who appeared on the pitch ahead of kick-off \u2014 and FIFA president Gianni Infantino among those in attendance.
\nMorocco\u2019s star man and captain Achraf Hakimi also ended up watching the entire game from the bench, with Regragui preserving the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who has not played since suffering an ankle injury with his club at the start of November.
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to take any risk with Achraf. We are being very careful with him,\u201d Regragui said.
\nIt looked set to be a long night for Comoros when Morocco won a penalty in the 10th minute as playmaker Diaz was tripped inside the box by Iyad Mohamed.
\nBut Rahimi\u2019s spot-kick was kept out by the legs of Yannick Pandor as the Comoros goalkeeper dived to his right, and the visitors then succeeded in thwarting their more illustrious hosts for the remainder of the first half.
\nStunning overhead kick
\nHowever Morocco, who also saw veteran centre-back Romain Saiss come off injured early on, succeeded in breaking down their opponents after half-time.
\nComoros, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago who are 108th in the world rankings, had their resistance ended as the opening goal arrived on 55 minutes.
\nManchester United\u2019s Noussair Mazraoui, starting at right-back with Hakimi not yet quite fully fit, picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and squared for Real Madrid\u2019s Spanish-born number 10 Diaz to score.
\nMorocco, who had seen Neil El Aynaoui almost break the deadlock just before that, then saw space open up although Comoros had a chance of their own as Rafiki Said was denied when clean through on goal.
\nMazraoui forced a good save from Pandor before El Kaabi, of Greek giants Olympiakos, lit up the occasion by meeting a cross in from the left by Anass Salah-Eddine with a magnificent overhead bicycle kick to make it 2-0.
\nMorocco\u2019s next game will be on Friday against Mali, who begin their campaign by taking on Zambia in Casablanca on Monday.
\nElsewhere on Monday, South Africa face Angola in Marrakesh before Mohamed Salah\u2019s Egypt \u2014 the record seven-time African champions chasing a first title since 2010 \u2014 get their bid up and running against outsiders Zimbabwe in Agadir in Group B.
\nThis latest edition of the Cup of Nations is the first to start in one year and end in another, with the final to take place in Rabat on January 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The hosts registered a 2-0 victory over Comoros RABAT Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament\u2019s opening game on Sunday. Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-521560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n