Bundesliga quartet feature in Morocco’s friendly draw with Mali
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Ismael Saibari, Bilal El Khannouss, Neil El Aynaoui and Zakaria El Ouahdi featured for Morocco in their 1-1 friendly draw with Mali. After both teams played two African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, they closed out the international break with a friendly test.
Abde Ezzalzouli put the hosts in front ten minutes before half-time from the penalty spot. Yashin Trophy nominee Bono kept clean sheets in the wins over Gabon and Lesotho, but substitute Gaoussou Diarra avoided defeat for Mali, who also started their AFCON qualifiers with two wins.
FC Bayern’s Saibari played 65 minutes for the Atlas Lions, while Stuttgart’s winger El Khannouss and RB Leipzig’s new midfielder El Aynaoui were also in the starting lineup. HSV’s summer signing El Ouahdi played the last ten minutes after playing the entire game against Lesotho.
Meanwhile, Hannover’s center-back Ime Okon played 45 minutes for South Africa as they beat Egypt 1-0 in a friendly played in Cairo. Debutant Puso Dithejane, who is a teammate of Robert Lewandowski at Chicago Fire, scored the only goal of the game early in the second-half.
