Eight minutes of madness for Morocco
Morocco coach Eric Gerets says players lost it against Tunisia while Senegal’s Demba Ba believes ‘success will come’.
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| Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh in action against Tunisia’s Zouhaier Dhaouadi [AFP] |
Morocco suffered eight minutes of madness when they let their hearts rule their heads, coach Eric Gerets said in the wake of a surprise 2-1 defeat by Tunisia in the African Nations Cup.
The Belgian felt his side had played a strong match on Monday but let their organisation slip at crucial moments and
got punished as a result in their opening match in Libreville.
“We tried to play quicker in the first half, chasing the play from one side to the other and with lots of tempo, which is
our normal game,” said Gerets.
“Collectively I think we played pretty well. It was good football and I think maybe we were unfortunate not to score
more.
“But we let the heart overrule the brain at key moments of the match. There were eight minutes in the game when we lost concentration and organisation. It should be a good lesson to the players that even if you are attacking you need to keep your organisation at the back.”
Morocco were stung by a freaky Tunisian goal in the first half as the ball floated in from an innocuous-looking free kick
and then by a swift counter attack in the second half. Morocco only pulled one goal back with six minutes left and ran out of time in search of an equaliser.
“This result puts a lot of pressure on us, there is no illusion about the fact we must now beat Gabon in our next game,” Gerets said.
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| Newcastle hitman Demba Ba is positive Senegal will improve in tournament [GALLO/GETTY] |
Morocco’s next Group D game is against the co-hosts in the capital Libreville on Friday.
Meanwhile striker Demba Ba said on Tuesday that Senegal will still achieve success at the African Nations Cup despite their shock opening loss.
Much-fancied Senegal were beaten 2-1 by Zambia on Saturday to complicate their route to the quarter-finals.
“Success will come for us, of that I have no doubt,” Ba told reporters in Bata, where Senegal meet co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in their second Group A game on Wednesday.
The Newcastle United forward hit the crossbar and wasted two other good chances against Zambia but said he was determined to make his mark on the tournament.
“Often, you can close your eyes, hit and score. Sometimes, you try every trick in the book but the ball refuses to go in,” he said after a training session.