Namibia 1 Morocco 5: Alloudi quick off the mark for Morocco

A first-half hat-trick from Soufiane Alloudi ensured an easy 5-1 win for Morocco over Namibia in their African Nations Cup Group A match here in Accra yesterday.

In an almost empty stadium, Morocco were quick to make their mark and took the lead after only two minutes, thanks to a close-range effort from Alloudi. The rising star of Moroccan football scored two goals inside the first five minutes and added a third with a rare headed goal in the 28th.

Namibia struggled to cope with Morocco's pace and technique but, despite suffering from early jitters they did well to fight back to 2-1 when their midfielder Brian Brendell scored in the 24th minute. But the south-west African team were thoroughly outplayed by a creative Morocco side.

A penalty by Tarik Sektioui made it 4-1 before half-time, while Moncef Zerka scored his first international goal three minutes after coming on in the 70th minute.

Morocco joined Ghana on three points in Group A following the hosts' 2-1 win over Guinea in the tournament opener on Sunday. Ghana play Namibia and Morocco face Guinea on Thursday.

Namibia: Shiningayamwe, Piennar, Gariseb, April (Shatimuene, 46), Benjamin, Ngatjizeko, Jacobs (Swartbooi, 77), Risser, Brendell, Bester (Pineas, 64), Kaimbi.

Morocco: Fouhami, El Kaddouri, Basser, Ouaddou, Erbate, Safri, Kabous, Hadji (Zerka, 70), Alloudi (Mokhtari, 63), Sektioui (Aboucherouane, 67), Chamakh.

Referee: E Devine (Cameroon).