Salford City defender Haji Mnoga’s dream run to the knockout stages of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Tanzania came to an end against hosts Morocco.
Mnoga played 72 minutes before being substituted in Rabat as his side were narrowly beaten 1-0 by a goal from Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz.
The Ammies defender started both of Tanzania’s group stage draws against Uganda and Tunisia as they qualified from a group containing African powerhouse Nigeria as one of the tournament’s four best third-placed sides.
Having reached the knockout stage of AFCON for the first time in the country’s history, the East African side were eyeing a huge upset against the hosts.
But Mnoga’s team came up narrowly short against a star-studded Morocco line-up backed by a home crowd.
At 112th in the world, Tanzania are ranked 101 places below Morocco and became the first side to progress to the last 16 with two points since the tournament was expanded to a 24-team format in 2019.
It quickly became clear that victory for Morocco would be far less straightforward than their 3-0 win over the Taifa Stars at the 2023 AFCON.
While the last-16 tie was dominated by the hosts, it took them more than an hour to find a way past a defence marshalled by Mnoga.
His side missed a golden opportunity to take a shock lead inside three minutes when striker Simon Msuva headed wide from inside the six-yard box.
Morocco winger Ismael Saibari had a 15th-minute header ruled out for offside before Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi rattled the crossbar with a fiercely struck free-kick in the second half.
The hosts took a deserved lead after 64 minutes when Hakimi fed Diaz to rifle past Tanzania goalkeeper Hussein Masalanga.
Mnoga’s side rallied and felt they could have been awarded a penalty in second-half stoppage time when Iddy Nado went down under a challenge from Adam Masina, but Morocco held on to end Tanzania’s historic run.
Mnoga will be reunited with his Salford teammates as they aim to continue their strong run of form against Swindon Town in the FA Cup third round.
He will hope that the experience of playing against some of the world’s biggest-name footballers will stand him in good stead, returning to a side competing for success on two fronts.
Salford sit fourth in League Two, having earned twelve points from their last five matches.
Meanwhile, the club can reach the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in its history by beating Swindon at the Peninsula Stadium on Saturday, 10 January, 3pm kick-off.
