Morocco claimed the bronze medal in the Olympic menโs soccer tournament with a crushing 6-0 win over Egypt thanks to Soufiane Rahimiโs double and goals from Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss, Akram Nakach and Achraf Hakimi in Nantes.
Morocco, who lost 2-1 to Spain in the semi-finals, bounced back with the biggest win of the tournament so far to reach an Olympic podium for the first time. The bronze is also the countryโs first medal in a team sport.
โWe had to earn our victory, it wasnโt easy. Itโs important to get failures first and learn from mistakes and we were able to come back stronger,โ Morocco manager Tarik Sektioui told reporters.
โIt was not easy, we had very tough matches. Players were aware of their responsibility and played with a lot of pride.โ
Egypt suffered their first regular time defeat of the tournament but despite the drubbing equalled their best result at the Olympics with a fourth place finish as in 1928 and 1964.
Ezzalzouli opened the scoring with a superb shot into the top corner after 23 minutes, before tournament top scorer Rahimi doubled the lead three minutes later with a fine header from Ezzalzouliโs cross.
El Khannouss got on the score sheet six minutes into the second half with a great low finish after a solo run off Ezzalzouliโs second assist and Rahimi netted his eighth Olympic goal to make it 4-0.
The 28-year-old Rahimi became the first player to score in six consecutive Olympic games, while his scoring record is the best since 2004 when Argentinaโs Carlos Tevez also had eight.
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Defender Nakach tapped in from Rahimiโs pass and captain Hakimi completed the rout with a terrific free kick three minutes from time.
โWe are proud of winning this medal, we worked very hard and sacrificed a lot,โ Hakimi said. โWe wanted the gold, unfortunately we didnโt make it to the final but we showed character and we were able to win an historic medal for Morocco.
โAs captain, I would like to thank our fans that were here and in Morocco.
The podium finish was key for Morocco to confirm their rise in football, coach Sektioui said, after the country reached the 2022 World Cup semi-finals and finished fourth after knocking out heavyweights Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds.
โIt shows Moroccan football is in a good path and we are making good progress. We had to succeed after the World Cup we had,โ he said.
Hakimi added that it was not only Morocco that was growing in world football, but the whole continent.
โWe had opened a lot of doors not only in our country but for African football,โ Hakimi, 25, added. โToday there were two African countries fighting for a third and fourth place. Everyone saw the quality we have.โ