Feb 11 1800 GMT Mali - Morocco 0:4 (final score)
before the match:
Mali
are only there because they were able to exploit the blunders in their
quarter finals opponents defence, while being outplayed the rest of the
match. Their big assest is striker Frederic Kanoute who is able to make
goals out of little, something that can turn matches.Apart from that
they are solid, not more. Morocco is a different type of opponent to
them than what they have faced so far. Although from their basic
concept the North Africans are not far away from the idea Senegal are
applying, in one to one they are certainly not the same.
Morocco on the other hand have already faced Nigeria and Benin from the
Western Region. Against Nigeria, playing at their limits, they were
able to come up with a good defence and counter game and had more of
most of the match. But against Benin they obviously had troubles making
the game themselves, especially in midfield where Benin seemed to
impose a little superiority in one on one situations. Running might
have been a little less on the side of Morocco in that game, eventually
they won high, but only thanks to particular errors in the Benin
defence, especially by the goalkeeper.
Both are not famous for risky attacking strategies, so that this might
be a low scoring match, or / and depending on defensive errors.
1st half:
-Mali in all white, Morocco in all green, Hadji is beginning in the place of Zairi
-'1-'10
-Morocco with domination so far, but final touches like passes fre kicks, corners, still off target
-('14) Morocco: Mokhtari with a curved but fast free kick into the far corner from 20 meters, half right - 0:1
-'masked': two other players suggested somebody else
would execute, the execution by Mokhtari might have been a little
surprising and so leaving the keeper less reaction time
-('17) Mali: dangerous free kick cross but Kanoute can't get to it
-('22) Morocco with a dangerous attack, have to settle for a corner
-Morocco dominate between the penalty areas, running,
trying to create superior number of players where the ball is, playing
fast
-('27) Mali have a half dangerous free kick cross anyway
-('31) Mali: Dramane Traoré takes a rebound directly, but his shot is not very hard and the Moroccan keeper can save well
-Mali have found into the game a little better, passing the ball around more quickly, start to dominate midfield themselves
-Morocco are back to counter attitude
-('37) a little scuffle breaks out after a foul, calmed by the referee,
who seems to have some problems in the crowd of players because he is a
bit smaller
-('38) the Moroccan keeper, is he cautioned(?) for delaying of game. he
might seek a rest for his players who ran a lot in the opening 30
minutes and now have lost the grip on the match
-('45) Malian defenders do well to contain a counter attack 2 vs 2
-('45+2) Mali: 28 meter free kick into the wall
halftime 0:1
Morocco
with very good 15 minutes in which they did a lot of running to give
them superiority in midfield. After that the match slowly turned and
Mali became more and more dominant. But as long clearcut chances are
rare on both sides it will be difficult for them to score.
They will hope for the physical factor work even more in their favour in the second part of the second half.
2nd half:
-('48) Mali threaten the goal after a free kick cross, but have to settle for a corner
-('49) Morocco are half dangerous, too, after a quickly taken throw in
-('50) Mali: huge opportunity as a free kick cross from the left finds
#5 Thiam unmarked. But the cross has been a bit in his back, so he
can't make his header on target
-('56) Mali: a second time Mali get Thiam free on a set piece, when in
a designed pattern all attackers run away from a crowd, followed by
their markers. On the spot alone remains Thiam, but his header is right
on the keeper
-('58) But it's Morocco who score out of the blue from
the right hand corner of the penaly area. Mokhtari takes two steps to
the inside and fires. It is a bouncing shot into the far corner that
makes the keeper look bad - 0:2
-to the excuse of the keeper: it has been very accuarate and sharp
-('59) Mali: a showcase flying save stops a Kanoute header
-'60-'69
-Morocco have gained confidence through the goal and
Mali have lost organisation a bit in hectical attacking attempts. Hallf
dangerous Morocco counter situatons are the consequence
-('70) Mali: spectacular scene after an indirectly taken Coulibaly free
kick. the first shot gets deflected, then block, a second attempt (by
Keita?) is denied a goal by a great one hand save by the keeper
-Fouhami has been a great keeper during this tournament
-('76) Mali: free kick, 25 m, after several failure by S.Coulibaly, this time Diarra tries - into the wall
-Mali running behind desperate and the more they are, the more confident are the Moroccan moves
-('80) a counter attack,
played from the left to the right wing, from where Chamakh makes a
perfect cross into the free space in front of the goal, that only
Hadji can reach - he does and with one touch puts it into the far
corner - 0:3
-('89) Mali: free kick S.Coulibaly, dangerous, but intercepted by a defender
-('90) Mali: Diarra starts to lose control and is lucky he is not
seriously punished by the referee for his kick against a Moroccan player
-(90+1) Morocco so confident, everything works now, #9
who has come in as a substitute fires from 20 meters into the upper
right corner after a corner. A nice shot but should have been saved by
the keeper. - 0:4
-final whistle: a few players on both sides crying in emotional outburst after the final whistle
final score 0:4
the second Mokhtari goal decided the match
when Mali were close to taking the match over. After that Mali lost
organisation, calm while Morocco played from confidence alone. The
Malian keeper helped a little and so the scoreline is a bit deceiving.
What is a statement is the 0 goals for Mali, because it refers to
almost 0 clearcut opportunities allowed by the Naybet mastered defence.
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