Afcon 2019: Michel Dussuyer buries the nightmare of 2017 while Benin beats Morocco

It is he who laughs the strongest, it is said, although when Michel Dussuyer finally had a measure of revenge against Hervé Renard Friday, while Benin eliminated Morocco from the Africa Cup of Nations he could only lick his lips and look lost. .

This is the third consecutive Afcon in which these two have clashed.

In 2015, Dussuyer's Guinea scored one point in Côte d'Ivoire, although the Elephants won the title while the Syli Nationale lost in the quarter-finals.

Two years later, Dussuyer entered the skin of the latter, taking the reins of the African champions in title while they sought to retain their title in Gabon.

Dussuyer added Wilfried Zaha, Jean Michael Seri and Franck Kessie to the ranks of his team, who were to be among the final teams, but to bomb at Oyem.

They were selected by Togo and the Democratic Republic of Congo in their opening two matches, before an evening showdown with a Moroccan team that had to avoid defeat to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Anyone who hoped that things would go well for elephants when the chips were exhausted was bitterly disappointed.

The Lions of Fox, the Atlas Lions, have managed the game perfectly, with the right courage and cynicism; Slowing things down and taking their big chance through Rachid Alioui, the Ivorians were uninspired and ultimately defenseless.

While Renard urged his team from the sidelines, recalling the frenzied aggression he had used to inspire Zambia's title in 2012, Dussuyer was pbadive.

The elephants, fighting, struggling to click, were looking for solutions – as they had done to Renard two years ago – but Dussuyer had not told them.

Seri, who fell after the opening scoring, was presented on the bench but struggled to adjust to the pace of the match, while the coach then pulled out the ineffective Zaha for Jonathan Kodjia.

Just five minutes from the end, he turned to Max-Alain Gradel, a player who has always reconciled things in the last third for Ivorians, and made the most of those who l? around him. Yet it was too little and far. too late.

The contrast between Renard, white shirt bent, pumping fists, and Dussuyer, tasteless, pale, pale, was flagrant.

Needless to say, the latter did not hold out after his exit from the first round of Ivorians. He had the chance to lead one of the continent's giants – after an international career consisting of three trips with Guinea and two years with Benin – and he was suspected of having regained his level.

Maybe Dussuyer was never destined to get the best of the best African players, and in 2018, the Beninese Football Federation turned to him to try to win the Nations Cup.

Squirrels impressed Egypt, though they did not win in their group.

Having helped 24 teams to qualify, the tournament has allowed them to reach the last 16 places and become one of the best teams in third place with three points.

Although their performances have not been particularly inspiring; they were fortunate not to be left behind by Cameroon and to be unable to find the net against Guinea-Bissau. They deserve to have earned the credit for leading the match in Ghana in their first game, recovering the goal after two minutes of Mickael Pote.

The impressive attack equalized just after the hour after the Black Stars – who responded through the Ayew brothers – were reduced to 10 men and the charges against Dussuyer left no chance for their victory. .

Defensively, Benin is well organized; they are packed with six feet and players with extensive experience in the French leagues, while Steve Mounie is a handful for the defenders – and the most effective air presence of the group stage – despite bringing his form of Huddersfield Town ( or his absence) at the Nations Cup.

Mounie and Pote are both impressive physical specimens. Although none of them are prolific, their air threat and their ability to be left behind make them a handful.

Dussuyer forged a very organized team; they beat Algeria 1-0 at home during the playoffs and, according to football statistician Benjamin Hajji, ended the group stage with the second-best goal expected against … after Morocco.

Their match on Friday was not supposed to be a free and fluent meeting, and it's no wonder Morocco did not open them … especially after the Atlas Lions had to wait the last minutes to open the scoring against Namibia and South Africa, two lower defensive formations.

Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations

The complete package or worrying flaws? Https: //t.co/Njj2zJK7AZ pic.twitter.com/FDQmYUQP3C

– Ed Dove (@ EddyDove) June 19, 2019

Afcon 2019: Morocco was eliminated – who pushed them to win the tournament?!?# TotalAFCON2019 #DimaMaroc pic.twitter.com/T6GEE38Ukq

– Ed Dove (@ EddyDove) July 5, 2019

Benin definitely took a chance – especially when Hakim Ziyech inflicted a last-minute penalty on the outside of the post – but even after Khaled Adenon was fired for a weird red card – and hard – the troops of 10 men of Dussuyer were so well pierced they neutralized the Lions.

It was a triumph for a limited camp, a win for the strategy, for the ugly work on the training ground and for the veteran coach, who was only a bit like wallpaper in African football , while Renard was the star attraction. .

For the first time, people had entered the Louvre and had admired the baseboards.

"I am very proud of my team," said Dussuyer humbly after the match. "We had a difficult match.

"Morocco is a very strong team, but we mentally prepared ourselves well and luck was on our side.

"I thank my boys for their outstanding efforts," he concluded. "I think we can continue this beautiful dream."

After winning the biggest victory in Benin's history and taking revenge on the one who put a stop to his brief mandate in Côte d'Ivoire, Dussuyer does not intend to engage in a job well done.

Then, they will face a similar physical team in Senegal, but who will not fear anything after the big obstacles of semifinalist series, Ghana, Cameroon and favorites, Morocco, who have been bypbaded.

"I have a group of boys with great energy," concluded Dussuyer. "We have never been beaten since the beginning, we have great mental strength."

One of the mainstays of African football has finally come to the fore and after having ended Renard's campaign … and probably as boss of Morocco … Benin will not be ready to rest on its laurels.