Preview

This was the second meeting between these two in the round-robin competition which they were both part of. It had started well for Morocco with a win at home in Rabat against today’s opposition, but now, more than half a year since that opening day clash, the tables had turned, with Zambia leading the way. They’d defeated both Zaire and Tunisia here in Lusaka following the loss in North Africa, so they looked particularly strong on home soil. Prior to kick-off, Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda had been invited on to the pitch to show off his skills. The 65 year old didn’t have the right footwear to be juggling with a ball, and he looked very much out of place there in the centre-circle in front of the players and officials. 

Prior to today’s two fixtures, Tunisia against Zaire in Tunis the other game taking place, the table read thus:

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Zambia	3	2	0	1	5	3	4
2	Zaire	3	1	1	1	5	5	3
3	Morocco	3	1	1	1	2	2	3
4	Tunisia	3	1	0	2	3	5	2

A win would firmly establish Zambia, who had impressed during the football tournament at the 1988 Olympic Games, when they had walloped both Italy and Guatemala by four goals to nil and progressed through to the knock-out phase, before bowing out to West Germany in the quarter-finals, in the driver’s seat of this second phase group. They needed to travel for both of their remaining matches, though, to Zaire and Tunisia. 

Morocco had impressed at the previous World Cup, when at Mexico ’86 they’d won their group ahead of England, Poland and Portugal, before losing out to a late long-range free-kick just before full-time in their round of 16 clash with West Germany, anyone’s nemesises back then. They had hosted the continental championship in 1988, and had won their group, but then went out in the first knock-out game, which was already the semi-finals stage, as Cameroon won by the only goal of the game in Casablanca. Morocco subsequently lost the third place play-off game against North Africa rivals Algeria on penalties. 

Morocco manager Antonio Angelillo, a 51 year old Italian citizen born in Argentina, had in his starting eleven only three players who had been part of their 22 man contingent at Mexico ’86. They were defenders Lahcen Ouadani and Fadel Jilal, as well as ace midfield man Mohamed Timoumi. Angelillo had two foreign legionnaires in his starting team, both based in Belgium: Timoumi at Lokeren and forward Mohamed Lashaf at second tier Racing Jet Wavre. Timoumi, 29 years of age, was on the cusp of completing a move back to Morocco, where he would play for OC Khouribga.

The Zambian hosts, managed by Samuel Ndhlovu, a 51 year old former international who was in his second spell at the helm, had six players in their starting XI who had featured in all four of their matches at the 1988 Olympic Games football tournament. These were goalkeeper David Chabala, captain and defender Ashious Melu, midfielders Charles Musonda, Kalusha Bwalya and Derby Makinka, as well as forward Wisdom Chansa. Bwalya became famous as he notched a hat-trick during the 4-0 thrashing of Italy. Musonda was a feature at top Belgian club Anderlecht, while Kalusha Bwalya was on the books at Cercle Brugge, and wide midfielder Lucky Msiska a third Belgian based player with KSV Roeselare in the third tier.

The stadium was packed; the national team was hugely popular with the population. Were they good enough to reach a World Cup finals for the first time in their history? Even if they should win this qualification group, they would still need to negotiate a two-legged play-off affair, so the road ahead was still long and difficult. The same applied to Morocco, and possibly to an even greater extent, as they were trailing Zambia by a point at the time of kick-off. 

Main official for the game was 45 year old Malawi referee Bester Kalombo. He’d turned out at the 1984 Olympic Games football tournament, where he’d been in charge of the group stage game between Norway and Qatar. He’d officiated for one match at the 1988 African Cup of Nations, while back in January now in 1989 he’d run the rule over the World Cup qualifier between Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast. 

The stadium was said to hold around 35,000 people at the time, but sources claim 40,000 were present by the time of kick-off. 

Our footage from the game is from Spanish channel TVE2, obviously equipped with Spanish-speaking commentators and all. While the Youtube images from the game consist of around an hour, of which the first half make up around 11-12 minutes from the end of the first half, our video with around 32,30 minutes in total, has 21,15 minutes of first half footage. 

Zambia (4-4-2)

Player	Notes	Age	Club
1 David Efford Chabala		29
3 Kapambwe Mulenga		26
5 Eston Mulenga		21
6 Derby Makinka		23
7 Lucky Msiska	sub 87′	29
10 Wisdom Mumba Chansa		25
11 Kalusha Bwalya		25
13 Whiteson Changwe		24
14 Charles Musonda		19
15 Ashious Jordan Melu (c)		32
19 Kenneth Malitoli		22

Substitutes
12 Biggie ‘Gibby’ Mbasela	on 87′	26
x Pearson Mwanza

Manager: Samuel Ndhlovu

Morocco (4-3-2-1)

Player	Notes	Age	Club
1 Hassan Rafahya	87′
2 Tijani El Maataoui		25
3 Ahmed Ermouki	1st half, 60′	32
4 Lahcen Ouadani		29
5 Fadel Jilal		25
6 Hammou Fadili		31
7 Mohamed Madih	1st half	28
8 Abdallah Haidamou	sub h-t	27
10 Mohamed Timoumi (c)		29
11 Mohammed Lashaf	sub 59′	21
16 Hassan Nader		23

Substitutes
9 Lahcen Anaflous	on 59′	23
13 Ahmed Masbahi	on h-t	23

Manager: Antonio Angelillo

Tactical line-up

Match report

First half:

The Spanish TV commentators claim that Ermouki is the Moroccan captain, although the man with the armband can rather be recognized as midfield playmaker Timoumi. We see the latter in the centre-circle alongside the three officials and home skipper Melu as the toss of the coin decides who will play in which direction and who will kick the game off. The latter honour eventually goes to the visitors, who bring the game into motion through Nader and said Timoumi. There had been a minute’s silence prior to kick-off, although there is no information what the reason for this was. 

Mohamed Timoumi, 28 years of age, had been named ‘African Player of the Year’ in 1985, and had played every minute of Morocco’s four matches at the 1986 World Cup. He felt like a natural with the captain’s armband in this select, where the only other player to appear at the previous World Cup was central defender Lahcen Ouadani, who had come on as a sub once and then played the full game in the first knock-out phase as they bowed out thanks to a late West Germany goal. That was then. This was very much now, but with such an extensive overhaul to the playing personnel over such a limited period of time, repeating the feat from four years earlier and qualify for a second straight global event seemed a difficult proposition. 

Zambia midfielder Charles Musonda had still not turned 20, and he had just come from a season at Anderlecht where he had left an increasingly impressive mark. He’d come into the team towards the end of October, and though the distinguished Belgian club had ultimately finished seven points behind league winners KV Mechelen, Musonda had established himself as a first team regular, something which wasn’t just a small feat. He had other internationals all around him, and the value a player of his talent and already significantly growing stature represented, was invaluable to the Zambian team. Musonda might have been used to operating under a different tactical set-up at club level in Belgium, while here he was the heartbeat of the team in central midfield. He could be seen in a two-way role, but one had the feeling that he was someone who thrived to a greater extent going forward than when he needed to backtrack. 

The home side are operating in a pretty traditional 4-4-2, where goalkeeper David Efford Chabala, 29 years of age, is one of six starters who had been a regular at the 1988 Olympic Games football tournament. In front of him was highly experienced captain Ashious Melu. Clearly equipped with leadership skills, he was someone who accepted plenty of responsibility not just defensively, but even at the other end of the pitch, and particularly from set-pieces. He had a vicious shot, and was not afraid to let fly from distance with his right boot. Balancing him at centre-half was the left-footed Eston Mulenga, another highly rated young Zambian footballer. At 21, he appeared to have a bright footballing future, and had come into the team in the wake of the Olympics, where he had been part of Zambia’s 20 man squad without registering game time.

At full-back was Whiteson Changwe working along the right hand side, where he would lend his compatriot ahead of him wide right in midfield moderate support. As the opposition didn’t typically attack down their left hand flank, Changwe as the right-back didn’t have a fixed opponent coming directly at him. This applied to a larger extent to left-back Kapambwe Mulenga, who would often come into contact with Morocco’s wide right man Mohammed Lashaf. In our video from the first half, he can be seen contributing in the forward direction to a somewhat greater extent than his full-back colleague. 

The home side had two players in the centre of the pitch with great engines. The already highlighted Charles Musonda had good vision for someone his age, and was certainly the more creative of the pair. However, Derby Makinka was a combative two-way player who certainly appreciated being in the thick of the action. He gave an all-action impression on this occasion, although he could probably be seen as the slightly more defensively-minded among the two in Zambia’s engine room. Makinka seemed to provide ample support for his younger midfield colleague, as they were bossing their visitors for the majority of these first half images. 

Appearing along the right hand side in their midfield four was the tricky Lucky Msiska. He was an arch-typical winger with license to drive forward in possession and pose questions of his opposing full-back. Msiska was a fine outlet along that flank, and was equipped with good technical ability. If anything negative could be said about his first half performance, perhaps it was that he was somewhat tunnel-visioned on a couple of occasions, running out of ideas when a simple pass to a team mate could’ve been an option. The player down the other flank needed little further introduction, as Kalusha Bwalya, aged 25, had received world wide recognition following that stunning hat-trick against Italy at the Olympics. A more physically imposing player than Msiska, Bwalya didn’t show the same hunger to try and take his full-back on and get to the byline for a cross. He was more orientated towards support for the front two, as he would seek to engage in play with either of the forwards, coming inside from his wide position. 

Both of Zambia’s strikers were being marked by each their Moroccan central defender. There was 22 year old Kenneth Malitoli, a rather tall player, who was directly up against Ouadani, while Wisdom Chansa, three years his strike partner’s senior, was being looked after by Jilal. Both of these centre-backs were strapping players, so Malitoli and Chansa needed to deal with the physical aspects of these battles in order to provide support to the team. Malitoli showed some nice touches and flicks, while Chansa was operating either in the channels or just off his front companion. 

As for the visiting Moroccans, their formation is not equally straightforward, but it can likely be interpreted as a version of 4-5-1, namely 4-3-2-1. While it is clear that 23 year old Hassan Nader is operating as a lone striker, and his main attribute appears to be physique, Nader is someone whom they look to for holding the ball up, he does have quick wide player Mohammed Lashaf in support when they come forward. The latter is positioned towards the right, and does at times resemble a wide midfielder, but he rarely backtracks, and so could be seen as a winger in a more traditional sense. Lashaf, trailing a classic mullet and all, can be seen in an early counter where he seems to be having a valid penalty appeal: An Ermouki pass forward sees Kapambwe Mulenga, Zambia’s left-back who’s followed Lashaf across the pitch, get into a mess with his own ‘keeper, and Lashaf goes to the ground as he appears to have been fouled by Efford Chabala. Based on the replay, the Malawi ref probably got the decision right to not give it. 

At Mexico ’86, Morocco had had Ezzaki Badou between the sticks. He had earned rave reviews for his displays as they won their group to progress through to the round of 16. He was still very much part of the national team, but had so far not featured in this World Cup qualification. In goal was Hassan Rafahya, and he’d played their previous three matches as well. At one point during the first half he goes to ground in his six yard box and claims injury to his right knee, with a member from the Moroccan medical staff approaching from behind the goalline to put ice on him. The referee comes and gives the staff member a mouthful, and he physically approaches Rafahya, whom he seems to slap on the cheek. It is a rather bizarre situation, with the Moroccan goalkeeper furious that he isn’t allowed to be attended to. Once back on his feet, though, he seems to have forgotten all about his “pain”. 

The two Moroccan centre-halves are both strapping players. 29 year old Lahcen Ouadani and the four years younger Fadel Jilal look after each their opposing forward, with Ouadani in close attention of Malitoli, while Jilal has attached himself to Chansa. Zambia are wise not to play a long ball style, as their forwards would’ve struggled against the visiting stoppers, who also are not afraid to put themselves about on the ground, but, as could’ve been expected from physically imposing players such as this pair, seem to lack pace. If drawn out of position, Morocco need holding midfielder Hammou Fadili to slot back into the heart of the defence, which he seems happy to do when requested. Fadili is also someone rather robust, operating at the deep of their midfield. 

Flankwise defensively, Morocco have a 25 year old by the name of Tijani El Maataoui along the right. He is relishing the battle with Bwalya, and he doesn’t hold back in challenges with the well-reputed Zambian wide midfielder. He may also lend a helping hand in coming forward from his full-back position, and can be seen combining with in particular midfielder Madih and wide right alternative Lashaf. To the left in defence, the Moroccans are equipped with Ahmed Ermouki, at 32 an experienced customer, although it must be said that he does find the tricky Msiska a difficult opponent. Ermouki is also someone who might be engaged in shifting forward, and along that channel he is most likely to combine with Haidamou and Timoumi. The Moroccan left-back received a first half booking for mowing down Msiska, whom he had followed into the central areas of the pitch, from behind. 

We have mentioned the layout of the Moroccan midfield, and while Lashaf and Timoumi could be said to belong to its more advanced areas, they had said Fadili at its base. Ahead of him were the ‘errand boys’, Mohamed Madih as the man working in the central right position, and Abdallah Haidamou across from him as their central left alternative. Madih became the second Moroccan to obtain a first half caution right after Ermouki for tripping Bwalya from behind, and thus providing the home side with an opportunity to strike on goal from 26-27 yards. Ultimately, captain Melu opted for pure power rather than something combined with precision, and his shot went well over. Neither Madih nor Haidamou were involved to a great extent, as Morocco would typically play in Timoumi or Lashaf further up the pitch, as they sought direct means to reach the hosts’ goal. Haidamou would be their go-to man for left wing corners. 

The first half footage depicts a game where the home side are in the ascendancy. They make use of the width of the pitch, and often opt to begin their route towards goal from the back. They typically deploy Melu to interact with his midfield, or to move across the halfway line ball at feet. He’s a very confident performer, and has the luxury of having two fine men in those central midfield areas to draw support from. Makinka, as the more deep-lying among the pair, is more often than Musonda the player to collect the ball in midfield, but he may also be on the run already, and this prompts further advance into enemy territory from Melu. And they’re far from shy in inviting into play their two wide men. Combined with the strong and vocal support from their numerous fans, the energy which Morocco are faced with is a considerable challenge. 

There were a number of set-piece attempts from the home side, who saw Bwalya strike on goal early doors from the right edge of the penalty area, with Rafahya pushing the ball wide, while Melu had a sneaky attempt from 22 yards with the outside of his right boot, although it lacked any pace to threaten the goalkeeper. Then his shot well over from further out. 

Morocco didn’t really threaten on goal after their early attempt where Lashaf tumbled over the goalkeeper having being played in by Ermouki, although it was Kapambwe Mulenga’s involuntary poke back towards his own goalkeeper which almost brought about the penalty. They were predominantly camped inside their own half, looking to break quickly, but towards the end of the opening half they fell behind courtesy of a close range strike by Musonda, who added the finishing touch to an original shot on goal from Chansa, and then a flick on by Malitoli, who thus registered an assist. This saw the hosts go in a goal up at the break. 

Half-time scoreline: Zambia 1, Morocco 0. 

Second half: 

The visitors have made a change during the interval, which has seen midfielder Haidamou remain in the dressing room for the start of the second half, and it is 23 year old Ahmed Masbahi who has come on in his place. Zambia’s front two of Malitoli and Chansa get the second period under way. 

Within two minutes of the restart, the hosts appear to have increased their lead, as Musonda, visionary as ever, looks up and threads Malitoli through on goal. Before Jilal is able to get a tackle in, the young, tall forward gets a right-footed shot away following a kind bounce of the ball off the somewhat uneven surface. From just inside the area he finds the back of the net, only to see the goal ruled out by the referee. There is no camera angle which can provide a view for us to quite understand why Malitoli’s low strike had been disallowed, so we’ll only have to assume it was due to an offside call. In fairness, there didn’t seem to be much complaining from the Zambians.

It is a confident start to the final 45 from the hosts, who are not deterred from that oddly disallowed goal. They stroke the ball around the team well, and they have the visitors pinned back inside their half. Zambia have a number of adventurous players who are certainly not afraid of taking a man on. Msiska along the right hand side is one such in particular. He’s got a fine burst about him when he accelerates ball at feet along that right hand channel. In Makinka and Musonda in the centre of the pitch, the hosts boss the proceedings against a somewhat stand-offish Moroccan team. In their camp, it is predominantly the classy Timoumi who dares to hold on to the ball. His excellent close control allows him time, and he’s capable of nip past an opponent, although he’s yet been unable to provide a telling pass. From the hosts, a couple of efforts from distance are easily gathered by Rafahya. 

Towards the hour mark, the home side remain in the ascendancy, and there’s another effort from the left hand channel, this time by the busy Makinka and his left foot, which only just clears Rafahya’s crossbar, before the visitors decide to make their second change of the afternoon, replacing the so far in the second half invisible Lashaf with Lahcen Anaflous in the number 9 shirt. It remains to be seen whether this changes anything with regards to the Moroccan approach; perhaps does Nader get direct support up front? Only seconds after the substitute has come on, however, the visitors are reduced to ten men as Ermouki, on a yellow card from his foul on Msiska in the first half, decides to chop down Changwe as the Zambian full-back had been attempting to gather pace along the right. The referee has no hesitation in sending the Moroccan left-back off, and rightly so. 

That half-time substitution by the visitors had seen Masbahi slot into the right-back role, with El Maataoui, the Moroccan defender along that flank during the first half, switching to the central right midfield role, held by Madih during the first 45. In turn, the latter had shifted across to the left where Haidamou had operated before he had departed during the break. When Anaflous had come on, and then with Morocco reduced to ten men immediately after, there were further shuffles in their set-up. Centre-back Ouadani took up the left-back position where Ermouki had featured, while Fadili stepped back from his midfield anchor role and into central defence, assuming responsibility for Malitoli, which Ouadani had done before him. They no longer were with a defensive midfielder, but being a goal and a man down, and clearly inferior to their confident hosts as the half was evolving, what the Moroccans could do was to leave Timoumi in an advanced midfield role and keep Nader and Anaflous in forward positions, hoping to catch Zambia on the break. Halfway through the second half, an equalizer was nowhere near coming. The home side had just wasted a decent opportunity from a free-kick 18 yards out straight in front of goal, with Bwalya shooting weakly to the right of the goal frame. 

Around the 70 minute mark, one does get the feeling that the Zambian team developes a bit of complacency, as they’ve hardly faced any struggles during the course of the second half. They are no longer on the front foot, first to the ball, and thus allow the visiting ten men to get the ball down and keep a spell of possession well inside of the hosts’ territory. This is the first time they do so after the half time interval. There’s a right wing corner which Efford Chabala fails to claim, which is eventually booted away by a team mate, but it may have been a warning of what was to come. 

Morocco’s inside right midfield man since the start of the second half, El Maataoui, is someone very conscientious. He’d had the imposing Bwalya to deal with in his defensive territory during the first half, a task currently belonging to stand-in full-back Masbahi, but the Zambian wide midfielder may be prone to drifting inside and even across to the right hand side, and this rarely happens without El Maataoui being in close attendance still. Also, the full-back turned midfielder plays an active role as Morocco win a free-kick in a fine position just outside the penalty area, to the right as they’re looking at it, on 73 minutes. He had subsequently picked the ball up wide and got fouled from behind by central defender Eston Mulenga, and when the skillful Timoumi stepped up to direct the ensuing free-kick goalwards, the Moroccan playmaker left goalkeeper Efford Chabala with no chance as he pinned the ball just inside the left hand post with a brilliantly executed shot. 1-1! 

In the minutes leading up to the leveller, the home side had lost their grip of the game, and had invited their ten men visitors right back in, ultimately conceding after that brief spell in which the Moroccans had been the better side. After the equalizer, Zambia again seized the initiative, although you could sense that there was a degree of disbelief in that they’d allowed the away side to draw level. They needed a few minutes to gather, to regroup, and then to go again. In the heart of their emotional rebuild was Makinka, who endeavoured to spur his team mates on. 

Entering the final ten minutes, the match is finely balanced. Having two away matches ahead of them, the hosts surely feel they ought to win in order to have a better chance of making it through to the two-legged play-off affair. The Moroccans, on the other hand, have both their final two fixtures on home soil. A 1-1 draw suits them just perfectly. The pace to the game remains decent; there’s few stops in play at this point. The visitors leave the two forwards and Timoumi high up the pitch, perhaps still hoping that they can make yet another telling break, while the home side are preparing to make a change, their first of the game. Coming off is right-sided midfield man, the busy Msiska. He had perhaps tired at this point, and he was replaced by Biggie Mbasela, a 26 year old, who was introduced with less than four minutes remaining.

As Rafahya holds on to the ball for too long according to the referee, the Moroccan custodian earns himself a yellow with the game entering its 87th minute. The home side are awarded an indirect free-kick inside the visitors’ penalty area. Musonda and Bwalya are over the ball, as you’d expect, but it doesn’t quite come off as the former’s ball into the centre is cleared away for a right wing corner by Jilal. Balls into the area are confidently dealt with by either the back line or goalkeeper Rafahya, who is no stranger to coming out and claiming.

The 90 are up as Makinka attempts one final push, and the midfield schemer tries a shot from 25 yards out, but is caught by El Maataoui as he does so. The referee awards another indirect free-kick, as indicated by him raising his right arm. Oddly, Bwalya is the sole Zambian player in the vicinity of the ball, as a direct shot at goal will only be a wasted opportunity. Or? As the wide left midfield man, who has had a fine game, strikes the ball goalwards, it enters the back of the net low into Rafahya’s left corner, and there is no evidence of the ball touching anyone on its path. Clearly, the goal should’ve been disallowed by the referee? The home side’s players are jubilant, not even for a second contemplating the opportunity that the strike may be ruled out, but there is no signal from the referee, so the goal is allowed to stand. Even the Moroccans on the pitch aren’t thinking about the fact that an indirect free-kick had been awarded; they’re just distraught to have conceded so late, a minute into stoppage time.

The indirect decision possibly stemmed from El Maataoui putting his foot up high on Makinka, and thus ‘dangerous play’ possibly came into the situation as an element. In the wake of the goal and the ensuing commotion, some of the Moroccan players appear to have been made aware of the referee’s original decision, and so are remonstrating pretty vehemently. Members of their non-playing staff are coming on to the pitch, and the linesman on the near side are doing his best to usher them all back off, so that the game can continue. Discussions continue in the centre-circle between the Moroccan players and the referee, who finally gets the match back under way more than three minutes into additional time.

There is to be no final push from the visitors’ ten men. Zambia take control of the ball and spend some time down in the left hand channel through Makinka, another player who has left a good impression. After precisely five minutes of injury time added, Mr Kalombo signals for full time. In highly controversial fashion, Zambia have defeated the Moroccans. Immediately upon the full-time whistle, players and staff surround the referee, there’s some pushing and shoving going on, and a large number of police officers stream on to the pitch to act as protection. One can understand the Moroccans’ ire and frustration, but the game is up, and there is nothing they can do to change its outcome.

It had been an excellent strike by Bwalya, but it surely should not have counted, given the free-kick had been awarded as an indirect one. There is no video evidence of any cards being handed out by the referee in the commotion upon the final whistle, but perhaps FIFA will look into matters and hand out suspensions in retrospect?

Final score: Zambia 2, Morocco 1.