At the men’s Africa Cup of Nations, which started on December 21 and is being played in Morocco, the host country’s national team striker Ayoub El Kaabi scored two beautiful and complicated goals, both bicycle kicks, in just three games played. He scored the first in the match between Morocco and Comoros, the opening match of the tournament: in the 74th minute, when Morocco was already winning 1 to 0. On that occasion El Kaabi scored in a narrow space, surrounded by two opposing players and one of his team-mates.
El Kaabi scored the second goal with an overhead kick on 29 December, against Zambia, during the third and final match of the group stage. In this case the overhead kick was less high, but still spectacular (as overhead kicks almost always are) and technically difficult to perform. Morocco ultimately won the match 3-0 and thus qualified for the knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ayoub El Kaabi is 32 years old and has been playing in Greece for Olympiacos since 2023 (before he had played in Morocco, Türkiye and Qatar). He made his mark in May 2024, when he scored the winning goal of the Conference League (the third most important European club competition) in the final against Fiorentina. It was a goal scored a few minutes before the end of extra time, which allowed a Greek team to win a European trophy, something that had never happened before.
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