Morocco continued with their impressive World Cup form as they beat Brazil 2-1 in a friendly game played in the wee hours of Sunday to register their first ever win over the Samba Boys.
Both teams paid tribute to Brazilian Great Pele who died last year in December at 82, before the game kicked off at Ibn Batouta Stadium.
Interim coach Ramon Menezes was in charge of the game for the first time since the resignation of Tete after Brazil’s quarterfinal exit at the World Cup Qatar. He retained only 10 members of the 23-man squad that traveled to Qatar.
Menezes did not have it easy on his first assignment as he saw his side fall behind in the 29th minute when midfielder Sofiane Boufal broke the deadlock to put Morocco in the lead.
Skipper Casemiro levelled matters in the 67th minute, but Abdelhamid Sabir restored the lead with a 79th minute winner to condemn the Brazilians to a 2-1 defeat.
Brazil who are currently No.1 in FIFA rankings had never lost to Morocco before this game. Their previous two meetings all ended in favour of the Samba Boys, with first ending 2-0 in a friendly in 1997 and the second ending 3-0 in the group stage of the World Cup in 1998.
According to the sources in the Brazilian media, The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) will name it’s new coach before the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in September. Real Madrid’s Carlos Anchelotti is reportedly the first choice.
