Morocco beat Cameroon 2-0 to advance to the semi-finals, but the Indominable Lions felt they had two clear penalties.
Morocco coach Walid Leglaghi has angrily rejected suggestions that his team is benefiting from favorable refereeing decisions as hosts of the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“We are the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will try to find all kinds of reasons to say Morocco has the advantage,” Leglaghi said after his team’s 2-0 win over Cameroon in Friday’s quarterfinals.
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“The only advantage Morocco has in this African Cup is that they will be playing in front of 65,000 spectators. The rest is on the field. We will talk on the field.”
But on the field, Cameroon could have received two penalties if experienced referee Dahane Beyda had not ruled in the home team’s favor.
Moroccan defender Adam Masina was involved in both, appearing to catch Brian Mbuemo’s right spike which missed the ball as Cameroon tried to equalize, and then appearing to elbow Etta Eyon on the head inside the penalty area in the final minutes.
Beyda, who was the referee for the final at the last tournament, also decided not to give a second yellow card to Bilal El Kanus, who stopped Danny Namaso’s fightback just before Ismal Saibari secured victory.
“A lot of people want to believe, or want others to believe, that we are favored by the referees. Personally, I have seen the penalties that could have been given to us. As for the referees, I never talk about the referees,” Regulagi said.
The Moroccan coach then spoke about the penalty his team was not awarded in the last tournament against South Africa in Ivory Coast, incorrectly saying he was “suspended for no reason” in that tournament.
Legulagui was suspended for two games in the last tournament after he got into an argument with Congo captain Chancel Mbemba at the end of a match, which led to a scuffle between players and team officials.
“Statistics always show that we are better than others,” Regulagi said, returning to this issue. “We create far more chances than our opponents. There wasn’t a single goal canceled for Cameroon or for any other team. When you want something to go away, you find an excuse.”
Mali and Tanzania also had a penalty request against Morocco rejected in their last match, while Morocco were awarded a penalty following a VAR check in their draw with Mali.
Thousands of whistle-blowing Moroccan fans tried to help referee Abdou Abdel Mefileh make his decision by referring to replays before ultimately deciding to award a penalty to Mali’s Nathan Gassama for handball. He initially ignored Javad El Yamik’s foul on Mali’s Racing Sinayoko inside the penalty area, but a few minutes later he awarded the foul after a VAR check.
It appears there was no VAR check in Friday’s game against Cameroon.
Morocco play all their matches at the 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where large numbers of supporters chant for the home team, creating an intimidating atmosphere for opponents and referees.
“Cameroon played the game they should have played today. I think they lost to a better team. There were a lot of physical battles today, so I don’t think anyone, players, coaches or anyone else, is going to talk about the referees. This is Africa. But I think we deserved to win today,” Leglaghi said, adding that his team deserved to win all of their previous games as well.
“That’s it. We’re trying to play on that field. I don’t think that’s fair play for those who want to see us go down. The best team will win this tournament, Inshallah,” he said.
Morocco will face either Nigeria or Algeria in the semi-finals on Wednesday. The final will also be held on January 18th at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
The Atlas Lions became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022, making them one of the favorites to win the tournament.
