Morocco’s Olympic Dreams Fade After Draw with Mali in CAN Qualifier

First failed outing for Patrice Beaumelle. The Cubs against the Malian Eagles did not impress. They were held in check during the clash of the last round of the 2019 CAN Egypt qualifiers, despite the presence of headliners like Noussair Mazraoui (Ajax Amsterdam), Achraf Hakimi (Borussia Dortmund), Hamza Mendyl (Dijon) and Youssef En-Nesyri (Leganés).

Worse, the Cubs were the first to concede the opening goal on a quick attack concluded by Ibrahima Koné’s powerful shot (28th) before Youssef En-Nesery equalized in the 49th.

Thanks to this score, Mali is better positioned with the return match to be played at home, on September 10, on its own facilities. Morocco, in doing so, moves away from the Tokyo Olympics, a competition for which only the top three out of the eight teams qualified for the 2019 CAN are expected.

The technical staff of Vahid Halilodzic suffered their 2nd failure in two games the day after his arrival at the head of the Moroccan team. The national coach failed to impose himself against Burkina Faso (1-1), on Friday, September 6, as part of the friendly match against the Stallions.