Zambia/Morocco: Moroccans Fight for Draw

28 May 2011

MAGHRED Association Sportive (MAS) have said they are relishing a draw in tomorrow’s Orange CAF Confederation Cup round of 16 first leg clash against Zesco United at Trade Fair Grounds in Ndola.

MAS coach, Rachid Taoussi said on arrival at Ndola International Airport yesterday that his team’s mission in Zambia was not to lose the match, adding that victory would just be a bonus for them. Taoussi said after finishing the Moroccan league as runners-up, his team was on a high to secure either a draw or victory in Ndola, though aware that the Zambian champions would be no push-overs.

The former Moroccan national coach conceded he knew little about Zesco except that they were knocked out of the Champions League via a 0-1 aggregate loss to Egyptian soccer giants Al Ahly. And saying he had great respect for Zambian football, Taoussi, who was national coach for 10 years, said he knew the current Football Association of Zambia president, Kalusha Bwalya.

With two internationals having staying behind with the national squad, only Bemammer Muhamad Alid and Bennay Othmane, a junior international, were among the playing staff Taossi travelled with. MAS last travelled the continent in 2009 when they made only the second round of the same competition.

Before that, they moved back and forth through Africa in 1984 when they played in the CAF Cup Winners’ Cup, a forerunner to the Confederations Cup.

The Moroccan club side boasts of four foreign players; two Senegalese, Fall Nader and Diop Mouhamed, and two Malians Tigana Moussa and Bathily Adoulaye Meanwhile, the Sudanese match officials for the first leg Confederations Cup fixture at Trade Fair Grounds are scheduled to arrive today after missing their flight into Ndola on Thursday.

The return match will be played in Morocco on 11 June. The Confederations cup is on the second round stage, and the winners between ZESCO and MAS would proceed to the quarter finals. And Zesco coach, Fighton Simukonda said his players were yearning for the match and hoped to win big during the first leg so that the return leg would just be a steppingstone to advance to the next level.

AllAfrica – All the Time