TheCable

The Atlas Lions of Morocco secured a 2-1 victory over Brazil in an international friendly played at the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier on Saturday night.

A goal in each half from Sofiane Boufal and Abdelhamid Sabiri took down the South Americans who briefly equalised through Casemiro.

The victory marked the first for Morocco against Brazil, following their impressive record-setting semi-final place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

In their first game at home since the tournament, a 65,000-strong packed stadium was on hand to cheer the team on — but the game was characterised by mistakes and tempers early on.

Yassine Bounou, Morocco’s goalkeeper, made comical mistakes in quick succession but both Ronny and Vinicius Jr could not capitalise.

Vinicius Jr however scored from another Bounou mistake but the goal was controversially chalked off for offside to the frustration of the five-time World Cup winners.

Morocco then pounced on a mistake from Brazil to take the lead on 29 minutes, with Emerson Royale gifting the ball to Boufal to slot in from close range.

Casemiro, the new Brazil captain, equalised on 67 minutes in fortuitous circumstance, as his tame shot slipped off Bounou and into the net for 1-1.

The lead lasted only 12 minutes as Sabiri hit an unstoppable shot from inside Brazil’s box to seal a historic win in front of a sold-out crowd.

It is the second time an African nation will defeat Brazil, with Cameroon achieving the feat at Qatar 2022 with a 1-0 victory in the final group game.