Morocco won the TOTAL African Nations Championship (CHAN) for the second time by overcoming Mali’s bold challenge 2-0 in a thrilling final at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde on Sunday night.
You might recall that Nigeria was knocked out of the competition in the quarter final phase when they faced Ivory Coast (Cote Divore)
Two second-half headers by Abdelmouna Boutouil and captain Ayoub El Kaabi sealed the victory for the Atlas Lions in the tournament in Cameroon to hand them the title.
The Atlas Lions repeated the success on home soil three years ago by a margin that hardly looked possible as the Eagles stood toe-to-toe with the favourites for over an hour.
Houcine Ammouta’s side became the first country to win a second successive title in the tournament, designed exclusively for home-based players.
Mali also felt their luck deserted them, but ultimately Morocco ran out victorious to revive the memories of the 4-0 victory over Nigeria in the CHAN 2018 final in Casablanca.
One of the few highlights of this year's CHAN competition the hightened level of punts that were placed on various matches; this is according to data from the Sports betting guide at Bettors.
In one of the most exciting CHAN finals of the modern era, played out to a soundtrack of African drums, Mali and Morocco delivered an enthralling spectacle that brought delight to football enthusiasts in the continent over the quality on display.
Little separated the two sides in a well-contested first 15 minutes which lacked attacking display before El Kaabi‘s header from a free-kick flashed across the face of the Mali goal.
Despite these difficult group stage matches, the Eagles, like the Atlas Lions, have gone undefeated so far with the same record: four wins and one draw in five games.
If the overall picture is similar the broader outline favours the charges of Ammouta with much brighter statistics, especially in attack where Morocco has scored 13 goals while Mali have just hit the net three times only.
Defensively, the Moroccans have cracked three times as the Malian defence has only been unlocked just once during the entire competition.
"It is true that this Sunday we are going to play a second final of CHAN Total after that of 2016 but this time, we will enter with the firm idea of winning the trophy," said the Mali coach Nouhoum Diane whose side reached the final of the 2016 edition.
“We have the possibility of doing something. We will play against Morocco, a great team, but psychologically we are ready. I think the matches are not the same. Morocco have some talented forwards and it's up to us to stop them so they don't score like they did in their previous matches.
“Physically, the players have recovered after two long matches and this is thanks to the great work done by the medical staff. As I often say, everything will be decided during the meeting.”
This Malian side includes players who were U17 World Champions in 2015 but also some who were crowned with the U20s during the U20 AFCON in 2019.
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