Nigeria was the last major team to start its African Cup of Nations campaign Tuesday, and it's the first one with its back to the wall after Morocco stunned the Super Eagles 1-0.
Like Nigeria, South Africa had a difficult preparation campaign with coaching and player problems, but at least Bafana Bafana set them aside to dispose of debutante Benin 2-0 on a couple of Siyabonga Nomvete goals to take the lead in Group D.
After all 16 teams played their opening game one thing was clear -- no one stood out after even Cameroon and Senegal failed to get beyond a draw.
But no one fell as hard as Nigeria, which showed a shocking lack of effort against a smart Moroccan defense and an agile forward line.
"We did everything to push them because we knew it would be difficult game," said Nigeria coach Christian Chukwu of his faltering players, blaming the loss on a refusal to take the opposition seriously.
Instead, the Moroccans were extra motivated to play the likes of Nwankwo Kanu and Jay-Jay Okocha. Despite being a team in transition, Morocco was extremely well organized and well served by the standout defensive duo of Deportivo de La Coruna veteran Noureddine Naybet and Rennes' Abdeslam Ouaddou.
And up front, unsung heroes like Jaouad Zairi and Youssef Hadji, the substitute who scored the clincher late in the game, showed an eagerness none of the Nigerians could match.
Hadji, a Bastia forward, took a deep pass in the 77th minute, shook off a defender before driving the ball past Vincent Enyeama with a low shot.
He said the whole team made his work light.
"A team is based on a strong defense and the rest of the team just follows," Hadji said.
The result leaves Morocco and South Africa with three points while Benin and Nigeria have none. Nigeria already faces a clutch game on Saturday when it faces South Africa in Monastir. Morocco can clinch a quarterfinal place against Benin that same day.
On top of that, South Africa's Nomvete joined Mali's Frederic Kanoute atop the scoring table with two goals. It could have been more.
Nomvete, who plays for Udinese of Italy, missed several chances and held South Africa in suspense until the second half, when he provided the breakthrough.
South Africa entered the tournament missing five key players, including key strikers Benni McCarthy and Shaun Bartlett, and the burden to lead the attack fell on Nomvete. He delivered.
Bafana Bafana also came into the tournament following a disruptive legal battle over the dismissal of a coach and the no show of several veterans. The win should ease some of that burden. Nigeria had similar problems with coaches and players, but could not set them aside to find unity.
Tunisia, already a winner, plays Congo today to get the second series of games under way.
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