Morocco will defend their title against Mali in Sunday’s final of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) after the holders thrashed Cameroon 4-0 in Wednesday’s second semi-final.
The Moroccans were simply too good for the hosts, as a double from Soufiane Rahimi either side of goals from Soufiane Bouftini and Mohammed Ali Bemammer secured a comprehensive win.
FULL-TIME at Limbe Stadium, Limbe.
CHAN 2020
Semi-Final 2
Morocco 🇲🇦 4-0 🇨🇲 Cameroon
[Soufiane Bouftini, Soufiane Rahimi 2X, Mohamed Bemammer]▪︎The title holders are through to the final of the tournament for the second time on the trot.
#MARCMR pic.twitter.com/NSWXIfuC6e
— Imikino.rw (@ImikinoRw) February 3, 2021
Rahimi doubled the lead six minutes before the break as Morocco carved open a Cameroon defence in disarray as he slid home a beautiful lay-off from Abdelilah Hafidi to become the CHAN’s top scorer.
Raja Casablanca striker Rahimi netted his fifth of the tournament after 74 minutes as Cameroon’s defence gifted him the chance with a wayward pass from a free-kick deep in their own half that was pounced upon and expertly slid him from 30 yards.
Ten minutes from time, Bemmamer sealed the rout with a goal that was allowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) even though the midfielder appeared to be offside.
Earlier in the day, goalkeeper Djigui Diarra and Mamadou Coulibaly were the penalty heroes as Mali beat Guinea after the day’s semi-final ended goalless after an evenly-balanced 120 minutes at Douala’s Japoma Stadium.
Mali are into the CHAN final for a second time, having lost to DR Congo in 2016.
Having finished fourth in 2016 after losing to Ivory Coast, Guinea will once again contest the third-place play-off, on Saturday, where Cameroon will be looking to restore their pride.
