{"id":1097137,"date":"2019-07-05T20:01:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T19:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1097137"},"modified":"2019-07-08T08:15:12","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T07:15:12","slug":"benin-morocco-afcon-analysis","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/benin-morocco-afcon-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things we learned as surprise package Benin overcome Morocco on penalties to secure historic Afcon quarter-final place"},"content":{"rendered":"

Benin caused a massive upset by eliminating pre-tournament favourite Morocco and reaching their first Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An unexpectedly closely matched encounter saw the unfancied Squirrels take a surprise lead through Moise Adilehou before Youssef En-Nesyri equalised in regulation time.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7304751-lampard-s-chelsea-midfield-set-up-will-be-inspired-by-his-ancelotti-days<\/p>\n

Hakim Ziyech could have ended the contest there and then, but his penalty miss in the final minute of stoppage time meant this affair was going into extra-time, and the drama continued with Benin central defender Khaled Ad\u00e9non receiving a second booking.<\/p>\n

Their rivals, with a numerical advantage, couldn’t profit and the game headed to spot kicks which Benin made count winning 4-1 and creating even more history in the process.<\/p>\n

As both sides go their separate ways here are five things we learned from this encounter.<\/p>\n

1. Adilehou breaks Morocco’s resolve<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Just three sides entered the knockout phase with a perfect record. They all just so happen to be North African rivals — Algeria, Egypt and Morocco — if that’s not impressive, the 100 percenters (along with Cameroon) were solid defensively having not conceded a goal.<\/p>\n

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This was expected to be a straightforward affair even if Benin have proven to be a side one should not underestimate. After spending much of the opening half on the back foot, they started to fancy their chances, the incredible moment came eight minutes after the break when Moise Adilehou scored his first international goal by converting a Cebio Soukou corner and sending their bench into delirium.<\/p>\n

2. Adeoti’s brain fart<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It’s hard to look at this Morocco side on paper and not think of them as anything less than great by African football standards. However, that is a very simplistic approach which doesn’t apply here, if anything there’s nothing to suggest Herv\u00e9 Renard’s team are more than the sum of its parts. They barely dominated Benin and were fortunate to get back into the contest.<\/p>\n

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Just when it seemed they were running out of ideas, with the game entering the final 15 minutes, Jordan Adeoti decided after gaining possession near his penalty area to dilly dally on the ball which invited Moubarak Boussoufa to snatch it away and he was more than happy to play in Youssef En-Nesyri to score his second of the championship. That was as good as things got for one of the pre-tournament favourites who must now embark on a period of soul searching.<\/p>\n