Does Walid Regragui’s crew have enough left in the tank when fighting the Selecao?
Morocco have already equaled or broken a few records, but one more could fall when they play Portugal in the third clash of the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
Walid Regragui’s team is the first Arab team to compete in the quarterfinals of the world masterpiece and is the fourth African team to go that far in the history of the competition, equaling Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana.
The Atlas Lions had not made it out of the group since 1986, but now they have done better in Qatar, beating the round of 16 that many other African teams have failed.
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The Indomitable Lions couldn’t get past England in 1990, losing after 120 minutes in Naples. Bruno Metsu’s Leones de Teranga were beaten 1-0 by Turkey 12 years later and the Black Stars missed a last-gasp penalty against Uruguay 10 years later before losing on penalties at Soccer City.
Upon closer inspection, a trend is recognized. Cameroon played 120 minutes in their round of 16 encounter before the round of 16, defeating Colombia 2-1, as did Senegal, although Henri Camara’s 104th-minute strike against Sweden was a golden goal, and Ghana eliminated the United States of America in overtime. .
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Morocco continued that round of 16 drift in Tuesday’s win over Spain, even becoming the first of the four nations to reach the round of 16 after a penalty shootout.
All three of Africa’s previous entrants at this stage competed in their final matches, even playing extra time against England (1990), Turkey (2002) and Uruguay (2010), suggesting they had enough left in the tank after the last 16 clashes.
The statistics suggest Regragui’s troops should give Portugal a game at the Al-Thumama Stadium, but could accumulated fatigue and injury undermine their prospects of reaching a historic semi-final?
A look at the Morocco XIs so far in the masterpiece shows a lack of inclination to make modifications to the tried and tested ones. Regragui has made one pitch change to his lineup in four games, with Abdelhamid Sabiri replacing Selim Amallah in his last group game with Canada.
Add in Yassine Bounou’s late retirement as goalkeeper against Belgium and the Atlas Lions have made changes to their XI staff just twice. Organization has so far been Regragui’s hallmark in Qatar, but so has stability.
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But can an unchanged team outperform a team from Portugal with much less mileage?
The crackles began to appear against Spain, with Nayef Aguerd coming off in the 84th minute and fellow centre-back and captain Romain Saiss seemingly paralyzed. As full-backs, Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui have taken blows in Qatar and have been withdrawn on several occasions.
Ahead of them is Sofyan Amrabat, who was doubtful to play in Spain’s shock result and received painkilling injections to appear at Education City Stadium.
“I am very emotional. It was a question of whether I could play this game,” revealed the midfielder after the historic win against La Furia Roja. “Last night I stayed up until 3 in the morning with the physio, an injection before the game too. I cannot abandon the boys and my country”.
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In fact, it was doubly remarkable that the midfielder produced arguably his best performance of the competition hours after fearing he would sit out.
Hakim Ziyech is the talisman of the team, but he was left behind after the hour game at Education City. Praise should be given for how he played another hour and converted a pressure penalty.
On the other side is Sofiane Boufal, who rarely plays the full 90 minutes. The Angers attacking winger was substituted in the 65th, 64th and 65th minute against Croatia, Canada and Spain, with the 72nd minute against Belgium being the longest he has lasted in any match in this competition.
“They are tired and we have injuries, but we are not going to complain,” Regragui revealed at the press conference on Friday. “You need everyone if you’re going to go far. Whoever plays, we will give our best and we will not make excuses”.
This intrepid Morocco has exceeded expectations to become the best African team in the World Cup. Now they need one more great performance to stand out as the best team on the continent to ever play on this stage.
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