Goalkeeper fails and Brazilian Olympic team loses to Morocco

In a friendly match that featured a blackout in the second half, the Brazilian Olympic team began its preparation with a 1-0 defeat to Morocco this Thursday (7), in a duel held at the Sports Complex in the city of Fez. The Moroccan winning goal was scored by El Ouahdi in the second half in a move that Matheus Cunha jumped late. The duel, which serves as a laboratory for the Pre-Olympic tournament in January, and also for the Pan American Games, which take place next month, showed a national team still in the construction phase.

On Monday (11), the two teams will face each other again in Fez to finalize this preparation stage. Current two-time Olympic champion, the Brazilian team tries to win the unprecedented tri at the 2024 Games, in Paris.

The Olympic team entered the field with Matheus Cunha in goal and a defense formed by Arthur and Abner on the sides and Kaiky and Robert Renan making up the defense. Andrey Santos and Marlon Gomes were in charge of protecting the area and also helping with the transition to attack.

Paulinho had the mission of providing the attack formed by Igor Paixão, Vitor Roque and Lázaro, but the strategy did not work. Betting a lot on plays by the sides of the field, Brazil didn’t bother.

With the ball rolling, El Ouazaani almost opened the scoring at the start by invading the area, but Matheus Cunha was accurate on the way out and managed to make the save. The scare made coach Ramon Menezes’ team get the ball right, but from the middle forward, however, the Brazilian team was just bureaucratic.

Isolated, Vitor Roque produced little and was trapped between the defenders. His best moment was a shot from outside the box. With the attack focusing on direct connection, it was up to the midfielders Marlon Gomes and Andrey Santos to try to score the goal as a surprise element.

Even without being effective up front, Ramon Menezes’ team dominated the match and had more possession of the ball. However, this was not enough for the Olympic team to gain a partial advantage on the scoreboard.

On the way back to the second half, the highlight was the blackout that took over the stadium at the beginning of the second half. After 14 minutes, however, even with the lighting apparently poor, the game was restarted.

The blackout made the Brazilian team enter the game and, in a well-constructed exchange of passes, Lazaro almost opened the score. As the players approached, the tables appeared and Brazil, finally, made Morocco’s goalkeeper work a lot harder.

But it was precisely when the Brazilian team was better on the field that the home team found the net. After Arthur was injured in the dispute, the ball was at the edge of the area for El Ouahdi. He shot low, Matheus Cunha jumped late, and was unable to avoid the goal. Morocco 1-0 in the 28th minute.

After the goal, Ramón made changes to the Brazilian team. Vinícius Tobias, Alexsander, João Pedro, Marcos Leonardo and Bitello entered the field and Brazil pressed in search of a draw. In the end, Gabriel Moscardo, Maurício and Wellington also entered. Morocco thrived on counterattacks at the end and managed to secure victory in this first friendly in Fez.