Morocco kickstarted the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying camp on a positive note when they came back from behind to beat South Africa 2-1 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Bafana Bafana started on the right footing, opening the lead in the 8th minute through debutante Lyle Foster.
Foster received a pass from Portugal-based midfielder Sphephelo Sithelo and set him up. He made no mistake from close range.
After that, the hosts piled pressure on South Africa with attack after attack, but they found a resolute Ronwen Williams who pulled off several saves to keep his side ahead.
In one of the attempts, the North Africans went close when a header from Youssef En-Neyri at the back-post of the area forced goalkeeper Williams into a superb save.
Williams was given more work in the matter of minutes as he produced a tremendous point-blank save to thwart En-Nesyri’s clear one-on-one opportunity.
The SuperSport United goalkeeper was the reason Bafana went to the break leading 1-0 despite backpedalling for much of the first half.
In the second half, Bafana again played second fiddle to their opponents, with En-Nesyri equalising for Vahid Halilhodzic’s charges in the 51st minute.
Morocco kept coming in numbers and got their reward through substitute Ayoub El Kaabi’s first-time volley at the near post after a cross by Amine Harit.
Bafana coach lined up three debutants against Morocco in Grant Kekana, Taariq Fielies and Sithole and will be hoping they win their next Group K qualifier against Liberia. Group K has only three teams, with the top two going to the Afcon finals set to be hosted in Ivory Coast.
