By Piers Edwards BBC Sport

Morocco were simply too good for a poor Senegal side.

Morocco displayed their Nations Cup potential when thumping Senegal 3-0 in an international friendly in Paris on Wednesday.

Fielding an experimental side in the early stages, the Moroccans simply outclassed the Senegalese, who were beaten for the first time since October 2006.

The Atlas Lions, who will contest Group A with Nations Cup hosts Ghana in January, opened the scoring after 33 minutes through Hicham Aboucherouane.

The left-sided midfielder went on a mazy dribble before cutting inside Senegal centre-back Souleymane Diawara and crashing his shot home off the underside of the bar.

Nine minutes later, it could have been two as Senegal's woeful defence allowed Moncef Zerka a free strike at goal but he sliced wide.

A dominant Morocco took a deserved 2-0 lead after 65 minutes as substitute Youssef Mokhtari tapped home at the far post after a fine cross from Soufiane Alloudi.

The creator turned scorer with a quarter of an hour left as he collected Jaouad Zairi's simple pass before turning well and firing home.

Henri Michel's side could have scored more in a game where Senegal's back four showed distinct signs of vulnerability with just two months left before the Nations Cup.

The Teranga Lions could have no complaints about losing only their second game in 13 under coach Henryk Kasperczak as they registered just two shots on target.

One of these efforts actually entered the Moroccan net but Henri Camara's 26th-minute strike was correctly disallowed for offside.

Both teams were using the game to prepare for Ghana 2008 where Morocco, runners-up in 2004, will also face Namibia and another West African side, Guinea.

Meanwhile, Senegal open their Group D campaign against North Africans Tunisia before then taking on Angola and South Africa.