Abdelhamid Sabiri was the hero as Morocco delighted their home fans with a 2-1 win over Brazil.
Brazil’s first game under interim boss Ramon Menezes ended in defeat as Morocco claimed a 2-1 win in Tangier.
Menezes is in temporary charge after Tite’s reign ended in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup.
And his debut in the Selecao dugout proved frustrating against the surprise World Cup semi-finalists as Brazil saw a number of chances slip away before being thwarted by Abdelhamid Sabiri’s 79th-minute winner.
Sofiane Boufal had initially put Morocco ahead, Casemiro equalized for Brazil thanks to a hapless mistake by Yassine Bounou, before Sabiri delighted the home crowd.
Brazil missed a great chance in the 13th minute when Rony fired over from point-blank range and were left frustrated again as Yassine Bounou pulled off a remarkable double after Noussair Mazraoui fired just wide from the edge of the box at the other end. Impose.
Bounou inexplicably played the ball straight to Rony, denying him and Andrey Santos in quick succession, and his flush was again spared when he tried to clear straight to Vinicius Junior to lob home, but the Real Madrid man was denied. offside flag.
That reprieve was all the more important when Boufal tucked into the bottom left corner on the corner after linking up brilliantly with Bilal El Khannouss.
Rodrygo volleyed home an eye-catching save from Bouna three minutes after the restart, but the Morocco goalkeeper was ultimately left red-faced in the 67th minute when he allowed Casemiro’s tame long-range effort to wobble under his body.
But Sabiri didn’t let Bounou’s mistake prove decisive, whipping a volley off the underside of the crossbar to seal victory with an emphatic finish.
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