Hosts Morocco moved into the semi-finals at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Friday night following a 2-0 win over Cameroon at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat.
Morocco laboured in the early stages of their 1-0 last-16 victory over Tanzania on 4 January but they tore into Cameroon from the outset.
Cameroon, surprising winners over South Africa in the last-16, seemed as ruffled as bedazzled by the intensity and were unable to keep the ball nor create with sufficient menace in the fleeting moments of possession.
The breakthrough in the 27th minute was no more than the Moroccan siege on the Cameroon penalty area deserved.
Ayoub El Kaabi headed Achraf Hakimi's corner kick from the right towards the goal and Brahim Diaz scurried through the ranks of Cameroon defenders to push the ball with his trunk past the Cameroon goalkeeper Devis Epassy.
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It was the Real Madrid striker's fifth goal of the 2025 Cup of Nations campaign.
And a foul on the 26-year-old led to the second goal after 75 minutes.
Cameroon defender Mahamadou Nagida bundled him over near the right touchline and was pensalised.
Abde Ezzalzouli floated the resulting free-kick into the area, Nayef Aguerd's header flicked the ball on to the unmarked Ismael Saibari on the left who controlled it instantly and fired it across Epassy into the right hand side of the goal.
His strike and the rest of his performance earned him the man-of-the-match accolade.
"Cameroon are a tough team," the PSV Eindhoven midfielder told Moroccan broadcasters. "I'm happy to score because it took the team to semi-finals. The award is just perfect."
Morocco's success furnished a squad from the country with their best diplay at a Cup of Nations tournament since the kingdom's finest players reached the final in 2004 and lost to Tunisia.
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"We're happy for the fans," Morocco coach Walid Regragui told broadcaster Arryadia.
"We were criticised quite a lot before the game but we stayed together like a family."
The 50-year-old former Morocco international, who played in the 2004 final, added: "Before we reached the semis at the World Cup in 2022, it had been 36 years since Morocco had made it out of the group stages at that competition.
"And it has been 20 years since we've gone beyond the quarter-finals at the Cup of Nations."
Regragui's next task will be to orchestrate an equally effective outing to overcome whoever emerges from the clash on Saturday afternoon between Nigeria and Algeria in Marrakesh.
Earlier on Friday, Senegal beat Mali 1-0 to set up a semi-final with the winner of Saturday night's game in Agadir between Egypt and defending champions Cote d'Ivoire.
