Morocco skipper Romain Saïss has questioned the refereeing performance after his side’s defeat to South Africa.
The Atlas Lions, who were a major favourite for the title, crashed out of the AFCON round of 16 following a 2-0 defeat to South Africa.
Evidence Makgopa gave South Africa the lead in the 57th minute before Teboho Mokoena sealed the win with a brilliant free-kick in the added time.
However, it could have been a different story if it wasn’t for Abde Ezzalzouli’s first-half strike ruled out for offside, a decision Romain Saïss wasn’t convinced of.
Talking to beIN Sports, Saïss said: “I want to understand why the goal we scored in the 30th minute of the first half was ruled out; there was no offside.
“The referee raises the flag, and then they come before the tournaments and talk about refereeing and give us details. But honestly, at some point, we should stop taking people for granted. We see many things change; sometimes they let the play go on, and sometimes they consider it a foul.
“Secondly, I think there were opportunities for us to win, not just the penalty. There were chances in front of the goal and set pieces. We were not effective enough.
“We were punished afterward, and South Africa’s second goal is funny to me because we tried to find the equaliser and pushed forward.
“In any case, it seems that there is room for improvement in this team; we must continue working.”
