Usuku
lwesibini kwindebe yehlabathi ebanjelwe eRussia lusuku oluthe wambu izwekazi
le-Afrika ngonxunguphalo emva kokubethwa kwamazwe amabini kwimizuzu yokugqibela
emidlalweni. Emini i-Egypt ibethwe yi-Uruguay ngebhola yentloko ethe gqi
kwimizuzu yokugqibela. Kube njalo nakwiMorocco ebethwe yi-Iran ngo’1-0 kumdlalo
wokuqala kuGroup B kwi-2018 FIFA World Cup obubanjelwe eSaint Petersburg
Stadium ngokuhlwa kwanamhlanje emva kokuba umdlali wayo ewugwaze ekhaya umkhonto kwathuleka kwathi cwaka.
Umqeqeshi
weMorocco, uHerve Renard, kwakufuneka asebenze ezingqondweni zabadlali bakhe
emva koketha kumdlalo abangadlalanga kakubi kwaphela kuwo. Kanti yena uCarlos
Queiroz nabadlali bakhe bawavuyele amanqaku amathathu kumdlalo wokuqala kuGroup
B ngoba kusalindeleke badibane namazwe ayingozi afana nePortugal neSpain. Impumelelo
yanamhlanje ezuzwe lilizwe lase-Iran yeyesibini kwimbali yalo ukusukela oko
lathi ladlala kwindebe yehlabathi. Noxa kungalindelekanga ukuba i-Iran ihambe
umgama omde kwindebe yehlabathi – kodwa impumelelo uyakuthi ifunqule umdlalo
wabadlali phambi kolandelayo.
Morocco: Monir EL Kajoui, Achraf Hakimi, Mehdi Benatia,
Romain Saiss, Kahim Ziyach, Karim Ahmadi, Younes Belhanda, Mbark Boussufa, Noureddine
Amrabat, Amine Harit, Ayou Kaabi
Iran: Ali Beiranvand, Ehsan Hajisafi, Roozbeh
Cheshmi, Morteza Pouraliganji, Ramin Rezaeian, Masoud Shojaei, Omid Ebrahimi,
Vahid Amiri, Karim Ansarifard, Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Africa title the first of many for Khayelitsha’s Mgabi