U23 ACON: Black Meteors’ Olympic dream suffers massive dent after Morocco thumping

In the second Group A match of the TotalEnergies U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, host nation Morocco secured a resounding 5-1 victory over Ghana.

Morocco wasted no time asserting their dominance, taking the lead in the 7th minute when Amir Richardson’s cross slipped past the Ghanaian defense and found the back of the net.

The host nation extended their advantage in the 14th minute after a lengthy VAR check, as Ismael Saibari cleverly lobbed the ball over Ghana’s goalkeeper, Ibrahim Danlad.

Continuing their commanding display, Morocco netted their third goal in the 29th minute with a well-executed team move finished off by Yenis Begraoui.

Ghana managed to reduce the deficit in the 42nd minute when Salim Adams found the back of the net, rekindling hopes of a potential comeback. However, those hopes were quickly extinguished in the 48th minute as Morocco’s Abdessamed Ezzalzouli scored their fourth goal.

In the 53rd minute, Yenis Begraoui sealed the victory for Morocco with his second goal of the day, completing the 5-1 scoreline.

With this convincing win, Morocco secures a place in the semifinals ahead of their final group stage encounter against Congo on Friday, June 30.

On the same day, the Black Meteors will be aiming to bounce back to winning ways as they face Guinea.

It is a must-win game for Ghana, as failure to defeat Guinea would result in their elimination from the U23 AFCON at the group stage, consequently missing out on qualification for the Olympic Games.