Morocco beat Ghana for the first time in 2 decades

Morocco beat Ghana 1-0 in an International friendly at the FAR Sportive Stadium in Rabat, Morocco on Tuesday.

The win gave the North African side their first win over Ghana in over 20 years.

Before the game, the Atlas Lions under coach Vahid Halihodzic were enjoying an unbeaten streak and were hoping to keep that run going, while the Black Stars were hoping for a win to boost their confidence.

The Black Stars led by Jordan Ayew were decent in the first half but fell short in the second half when a Razak Abalora’s blunder led to defender Jawad El Yamiq punishing the Stars by heading home the only goal of the match.

The starting lineup by coach Akonnor saw Emmanuel Lomotey and Baba Iddrisu operating in the defensive midfield position with Samuel Owusu and Joel Fameyeh playing through the lines in a typical 4-4-2 formation.

At the back, Ghana had Nicholas Opoku and Daniel Amartey at the heart of defense while Andy Yiadom and Gideon Mensah played right fullback and left fullback respectively.

The game started without captain Andre Ayew whose position was handled by Mohammed Kudus who gave a good account of himself with his performance.

The Atlas Lions with key players like Romain Sais, Achraf Hakimi, Adel Taarabt, Yassine Bono and Youssef El Nessyri dominated possession in both halves to win the game despite a convincing performance from the Black Stars.

Champions League winner, Hakim Ziyech made an instant impact in the game when he was introduced in the second half.

However, Akonnor’s men turned things around in the latter stages of the game with the introduction of Black Stars captain, Dede Ayew but the attacking prowess could not yield any goal after 90 minutes of play.

The match was to prepare both teams for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon as well as the World Cup qualifying campaign which starts in September.

This is the 3rd defeat for coach Charles Akonnor in his 7 games in charge so far.

The Black Stars hope to return to winning ways when they face Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 12 at the Cape Coast Stadium, while the Atlas Lions of Morocco will be looking forward to another win when they lock horns with Burkina Faso in their next game.