Savoy hoping for better performance in Morocco re-match

Central African Republic head coach Raoul Savoy still harbours hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations as he prepares to face Morocco for the second time in the space of three days on Tuesday, 15 October.

Kick-off is at 9pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

CURRENT FORM

The Wild Beasts are in a precarious position in group B after suffering a heavy 5-0 defeat to the Atlas Lions in Oujda on 12 October.

Only one team will advance to the finals in Morocco as the hosts qualify automatically, leaving Savoy's side to battle it out with Gabon and Lesotho for the single berth.

CAR trail the Panthers by one point in third place at the halfway stage of the qualifying campaign, having lost their last two games since beating the Crocodiles 3-1 on 5 September.

The November qualifiers will be crucial to their efforts as Morocco will have the upper hand on matchday 4 due to playing at the Honour Stadium once more despite being designated as the "away" team.

Walid Regragui's side have largely impressed this year since bowing out of Afcon 2023 in the round of 16, winning six of their seven matches.

The 2022 World Cup semifinalists are one of six countries still sporting a 100 per cent record in qualifying after the opening three rounds and they're the joint-top scorers with 10 goals.

WHAT WAS SAID

Central African Republic head coach Raoul Savoy

"I'd like to achieve something significant here, and hopefully I can make a valuable contribution to the country.

"We've already put in a lot of effort, but it's now up to us to go on and qualify for a major tournament and write our names into the country's history books. That's what I'm really aiming for and so are the team."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Central African Republic - Geoffrey Kondogbia is still central to Savoy's plans as he's found a new lease on life at Marseille after enduring a tough time during a three-year spell with Atletico Madrid, where he wasn't always first-choice under Diego Simeone. The 31-year-old defensive midfielder missed the March friendlies against Bhutan and Papua New Guinea, but has returned to captain the team for the last five games.

Morocco - Abde Ezzalzouli caught the eye last time out when he opened the scoring in the 18th minute to register his first goal for the Atlas Lions on his 18th appearance. The 22-year-old winger then set up Azzedine Ounahi for his second goal on the stroke of halftime before making way for Ilias Akhomach on 76 minutes.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Matches - 6

CAR wins - 0

Morocco wins - 4

Draws - 2