FOOTBALL – The Fifa Arab Cup ended on the highest of notes as Morocco fought back to defeat Jordan 3-2 in a thrilling final in front of a capacity crowd at Lusail Stadium in Qatar yesterday.
Oussama Tannane gave Morocco the lead with a long-range wonder goal. Jordan appeared on the brink of glory thanks to a brilliant brace from Ali Olwan but the Atlas Lions roared to the title after Abderrazzaq Hamdallah scored a dramatic late equaliser before grabbing the winner in extra time.
Following the suspension and subsequent abandonment of the third place play-off between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the match was declared a 0-0 draw and the third place shared between both teams.
As dawn broke over Lusail, locals were greeted by unexpectedly wet, windy and wild weather that put a dampener on Qatar’s National Day celebrations.
That did little to quell the festivities for a Morocco side that ended the evening in possession of the Arab Cup trophy.
Hamdallah proved the match winner for the Atlas Lions in a final for the ages, first with an 88th-minute equaliser which took a roller-coaster match to extra-time, where he slotted the winner to leave Jordan broken-hearted.
As the rain continued to tumble down in eastern Qatar and not long after the lights from the pre-match festivities were dimmed, Morocco’s Oussama Tannane produced an extraordinary opening goal.
An errant Jordan pass, inside the Morocco half, saw Amin Zahzouh nip in to win possession and, in the same movement backheel a pass to Tannane.
The forward took the slightest of glances, spotted Yazeed Abulaila off his line and launched a floating effort that sailed and dipped past the retreating Jordanian custodian.
At this tournament, especially once they have the lead, Morocco have proven to be near unbreachable.
The Nashama though did what none other had at the regional showpiece in breaching them not once, but twice, both via tournament top scorer Ali Olwan.
The equaliser came just three minutes into the second half as a quickly-taken corner kick was sent in by Mohannad Abu Taha and nodded home on the top of the six-yard box.
Midway through the second period, Mahmoud Al Mardi drove a shot into the Moroccan box that clattered off the hand of Achraf El Mahdioui – on in place of the injured Karim El Berkaoui – that saw the referee summoned to check for a possible penalty.
The verdict was a positive one for Jamal Sellami’s men. Up to the spot stepped Olwan, scorer of four penalties already at Qatar 2025, and he went straight down the middle as El Mehdi Benabid went to his left and Jordan went 2-1 up.
Morocco though launched a furious response, with wave after wave of attacking forays and were rewarded in the 88th minute of regulation time when a corner fell to Hamdallah who tucked home from almost on the goal-line after his initial effort came back off the post.
A drama-filled final few minutes firstly saw Morocco have a penalty shout waved away before Olwan wasted a one-on-one chance on the end of a long counter.
Hamdallah continued where he left off in added time and sealed an incredible final with a close-range volley in the 100th minute to give Morocco perfect preparations for the Fifa World Cup 2026.
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