African Nations Cup
January 23, 2013
Morocco
1 - 1
Cape Verde Islands
Group A
18:00 +00:00, January 23, 2013
Durban Stadium
Referee: Janny Sikazwe
Morocco 1-1 Cape Verde Islands
Scoring Summary
| Morocco | Cape Verde Islands |
|---|---|
| Youssef El Arabi (78') | Luis Carlos Platini (35') |
Teams
| Morocco | Cape Verde Islands |
|---|---|
| 1 Nadir Lamyaghri | 1 Josimar Diaz Vozinha |
| 5 Mehdi Benatia | 6 Nando |
| 17 Issam Adoua | 3 Fernando Varela |
| 3 Zakara Bergdich | 8 Toni Varela |
| 2 Abderrahim Chakir | 18 Nivaldo |
| 8 Karim El Ahmadi | 14 Gege |
| 7 Abdelaziz Barrada | 15 Paulo Silva Marco Soares |
| 10 Younés Belhanda | 5 Babanco |
| 14 Mounir El Hamdaoui | 7 Luis Carlos Platini |
| 21 Nordin Amrabat | 20 Ryan Mendes |
| 11 Oussama Assaidi | 11 Julio Tavares |
| Substitutes | |
| 22 Khalid Askri | Fock 12 |
| 12 Anas Zniti | Rilly 16 |
| 4 Ahmed Kantari | Josimar 13 |
| 15 Abdel El Kaoutari | Emanuel Carlitos 23 |
| 16 Abdelatif Noussir | Pecks 19 |
| 6 Adil Hermach | Guy Ramos 4 |
| 19 Kamel Chafni | David Silva 22 |
| 13 Youssef Idrissi Kaddioui | Nivaldo Stenio Santos 2 |
| 9 Youssef El Arabi | Souto Ronny 17 |
| 18 Chahir Belghazouani | Héldon 10 |
| 20 Abderazak Hamdallah | Djaniny 21 |
| 23 Abdelilah Elhafidi | Rambe 9 |
| Substitutions | |
| Youssef El Arabi for Nordin Amrabat (46) | Souto Ronny for Luis Carlos Platini (71) |
| Chahir Belghazouani for Oussama Assaidi (54) | Héldon for Ryan Mendes (75) |
| Kamel Chafni for Younés Belhanda (65) | Guy Ramos for Julio Tavares (90) |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Abderrahim Chakir (21) | Ryan Mendes (38) |
| Abdelaziz Barrada (65) | Nando (67) |
| Youssef El Arabi (70) | |
| · Squads: Morocco | Cape Verde Islands | |
Cape Verde scored their first ever goal in a major tournament but conceded late on to miss out on an historic victory over Morocco in the African Nations Cup.
Following a goalless draw in their Group A opener against South Africa, Cape Verde impressed once more and Luis Platini went down in their history books with a landmark goal after 35 minutes.
They continued to boss the game but a defensive lapse allowed Morocco to level in the 78th minute and they spent much of the final 10 minutes on the backfoot as they fought to preserve a point.
There was a taste of things to come inside the opening minutes when Julio Tavares got on the end of a dangerous free-kick to force Nadir Lamyaghri into an early save.
That was the cue for virtually one-way traffic throughout the opening 45 minutes, with Morocco mustering just two shots, neither of which troubled Josimar Vozinha.
Instead, Lamyaghri was the goalkeeper being kept busy as Tavares bullied the Morocco defence.
He threatened again after winning possession 40 yards from goal but then running through the defence before pulling a shot just wide.
Ryan Mendes then brought a good save out of the goalkeeper with a low free-kick that looked to take the slightest deflection off the wall.
Platini volleyed wide and then brought another good save from the goalkeeper as the pressure mounted.
The goal came in the 35th minute as Mendes split the defence with a throughball and Platini raced on to chip it over Lamyaghri.
Cape Verde remained the better side in the second half, with Neves Nando heading over from Fernando Varela's cross while Tavares continued to make a nuisance of himself.
But just when it looked like Morocco had run out of ideas, they levelled 12 minutes from time.
It looked all too easy from Cape Verde's point of view with Abdelaziz Barrada allowed room on the right to pull the ball back to the completely unmarked Youssef El Arabi to rifle home from the penalty spot.
Cape Verde almost responded moments later when Heldon ran on to a throughball but he did not make proper contact on his shot as the goalkeeper gathered.
But Morocco had found the spark they lacked, and El Arabi headed narrowly wide from a corner but Kamel Chafni sent a long-range effort desperately close after good work from Chahir Belghazouani won a corner.