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Joy for Morocco, tears for Mali

Trevor Huggins | February 12, 2004 15:08 IST

Coach Badou Ezaki praised Morocco's discipline after they hammered Mali 4-0 on Wednesday to reach the African Nations Cup final.

Morocco left Mali players in tears after lining up a final on Saturday against Tunisia, following the host nation's 5-3 win over Nigeria on penalties in the day's earlier semi-final outside Tunis.

"Mali have excellent individuals and can cause problems for any team but I think Morocco were well disciplined and well in control of the match," Ezaki told reporters.

"We created chances, scored four times and could even have had more."

Ezaki, who said the target set him by Morocco's football federation before the tournament had been to reach the semi-finals, added: "I've done more than I was asked to do.

"I believe in my work, my squad and my coaching staff and the results are there to be seen."

Looking ahead to Saturday, he said: "It's an all-Arab final and I hope Morocco and Tunisia put on a good show, with fair play."

As for lifting the trophy, he said: "It's my dream."

For Mali boss Henri Stambouli, the day turned into a nightmare after only a quarter of an hour when Morocco striker Youssef Mokhtari planted a free kick into the back of his team's net.

"Everybody is ready, everybody is strong before a semi-final," Stambouli told a news conference.

"But when you concede a goal from a free kick after 15 minutes and have to try and get back into the game against a team who pack the midfield, it obviously makes everything more difficult.

"It's a very heavy scoreline tonight," he said. "It's hard to take and it really hurts...in the dressing room, they're crying. They're extremely disappointed.

"These are difficult moments. But they are also the moments that you judge a man by."

Looking ahead to Friday's game against Nigeria, he said: "It's going to be hard to rouse them for the match for third place."


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