Morocco’s improbable, history-making run at the World Cup is about to get its ultimate test.
Africa’s first World Cup semifinalist is
playing defending champion France and its star striker Kylian Mbappé, the
leader of a new wave of soccer superstars coming out of an era dominated by
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Wednesday’s match has cultural and
political connotations — Morocco was under French rule from 1912-1956 — and the
outcome is far from the foregone conclusion many would presume by looking at
the names of the players and the rankings of the teams.
Morocco has exceeded all expectations in
Qatar by beating second-ranked Belgium in the group stage and then eliminating
European powerhouses Spain and Portugal in the knockout phase to reach the
semifinals.
No African or Arab nation has ever gotten
this far.
It is one of the biggest stories in the
World Cup’s 92-year history and Morocco is not done yet.
“I was asked if we can win the World Cup
and I said, ‘Why not? We can dream, it doesn’t cost you anything to have
dreams,’” said Walid Regragui, Morocco’s French-born coach. “European countries
are used to winning the World Cup and we have played top sides, we have not had
an easy run. Anyone playing us is going to be afraid of us now.”
Even France?
The defending champions have just passed
their own big test by coming through a tough quarterfinal match against
England, on a rare occasion when Mbappé was kept quiet.
No player has scored more than his five
goals and it won’t be easy for Mbappé to add to that tally against Morocco,
which has yet to concede a goal to an opposition player at this World Cup — or
indeed in its nine games since Regragui was hired in August. The only goal
allowed was an own-goal by its defender, Nayef Aguerd, against Canada in the
group stage.
Morocco might have some injuries now —
Aguerd and fellow center back Romain Saiss could be missing Wednesday — but
Regragui’s game plan relies on team shape and discipline more than any specific
individual.
“We recovered well. We have good doctors
and every day we get good news. No one is ruled out and no one is for certain,”
Regragui told reporters on Tuesday. “We’ll use the best team possible.”
The Morocco coach said his team is ready to
“change the mentality” of Africa, and he’s told his players not to settle for
anything less than the top prize.
“We’re going to fight to move on, for the
African nations, for the Arab world,” he said.
Regragui said defender Achraf Hakimi is
looking forward to a “nice duel” with Mbappé, his teammate at Paris
Saint-Germain, but added that France doesn’t just depend on its star player.
“Well have to block Kylian, but not just
him. Hakimi is super motivated to beat his friend,” he said.
The key to winning the game, he said, will
be Morocco’s “team spirit” and the support of the crowd at Al Bayt Stadium,
where French President Emmanuel Macron is set to be in attendance along with
tens of thousands of green-and-red-clad Morocco fans. It will feel like a home
game for Morocco’s players, which might level things up even more.
“We have the best fans in the world along
with Argentines and Brazilians. They’re people who come from anywhere in the
world to support their country,” Regragui said. “We’re going to play like being
at home and that’s the most important thing in the world.”
France starts as the big favorite, though,
because of its star quality and experience. In Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann, a
forward who has reinvented himself as a midfield playmaker at the World Cup,
the team has two of the World Cup’s leading players while Olivier Giroud’s
winner against England took him to four goals — the same as Messi.
They have attacking threats from everywhere
and that intangible quality of just knowing how to get the job done. France
center back Raphael Varane said there will be no danger of complacency among
his teammates in a gam against the world’s No. 22-ranked team.
“We have enough experience in the team to
not fall into that trap,” he said. “We know Morocco isn’t here by chance. It is
up to us, as experienced players, to make sure we are all prepared for another
battle.” -AP
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