Home ›› 14 Dec 2022 ›› Sport
After upsetting some of the favourites of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Morocco are now eyeing the Final as the first African nation to do so, and they need one more miracle against the defending Champions France in their Semi-final clash tonight at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.
Morocco are the first African and Arab nation to reach the Semi-finals thanks to their rock-solid defence while France, probably the best attacking side in the tournament, are looking to defend their world title, a feat only Italy (1930-34) and Brazil (1958-62) achieved before.
Morocco have been the giant killers throughout the World Cup as they knocked Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal out of the tournament in the Quarter-finals and Spain in the Round of 16.
After being drawn into the same group as Belgium and Croatia, not many would have bet on the Atlas Lions to even make it out of the group stage, but Walid Regragui had other plans as his side rocked the group stage to qualify for the knockouts being the group champions, which consequently saw Belgium’s golden generation crash out of the first round.
Then, they displayed immense grit to first drag Spain to the penalties to knock them out, before holding on to a single-goal lead against Portugal to reach the final four.
The World Champions, on the other hand, had been dominant from the start of their campaign as they won group D despite losing to Tunisia. France ousted Poland and the English to reach the Semi-finals and now hope to play back-to-back finals of the FIFA World Cup.
Despite the unavailability of Ballon D’or winner Karim Benzema, France has scored the second most goals (11) in the World Cup, thanks to Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud, who is now the highest goal-scorer for the nation. The duo has scored nine goals between them, putting them in first and second place in the race for the golden boot.
Mbappe, currently the highest goal scorer of the tournament (4), who prefers to run at the opposition defence, can convert even half-chances into goals, must be looked after, and that responsibility will be on Achraf Hakimi, who has also been in terrific form and has the speed to match the Frenchman’s threat.
In their Quarter-final clash against England, France proved that even if the opposition neutralised Mbappe, the other attackers are capable of bringing results, especially Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.
Morocco, on the other hand, is the only side in the World Cup yet to concede a goal from the opposition. They contested with the likes of Belgium, Croatia, Spain and Portugal, and none could break the rock-solid Moroccan defence.
Their full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui have been pivotal for the side as they have neutralised almost every opposition winger. But their concern will be the unavailability of skipper and central defender Romain Saiss, who has been solid throughout the tournament.
Ahead of the clash, French skipper Hugo Lloris said they only had admiration for the Moroccan side.
“We can only have respect and admiration for what they have done, but nothing happens by chance at this level. When a team is capable of beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal, and finish top of their group, it is because they have lots of quality on the field and undoubtedly off it too, in terms of cohesion and team spirit.
“They will be formidable opponents, and on top of that there will be a hostile atmosphere in the stadium,” he said.
Morocco coach Regragui is not shying away from dreaming big as he hoped to acquire the holy grail of football.
“We want to win the World Cup. It’s not just words, we have to go further, maybe we won’t have another opportunity. We are not the favourites but we are confident - maybe that makes me mad, crazy? A bit of crazy can be good,” the Moroccan coach said.
Regragui added that they were hungry for more, “If we are happy just to reach the Semi-final and some see that as enough, I don’t agree. If you get to the semi-finals and you are not hungry then there is a problem.
“The best team in the tournament, Brazil is already out. We are an ambitious team and we are hungry but I don’t know if that will be enough.”
