QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP: FRANCE RUIN MOROCCO’S WORLD CUP DREAMS
By Samson Adeyemo
France outclassed Morocco to set up a final with Argentina. The Atlas lions put up an outstanding performance in front of tens of thousands of fans who dominated the 60,000-seat Al Bayt Stadium.
Things change just five minutes into the game, as Morocco’s World Cup spell was broken. France center back Raphaël Varane played a beautiful ball through the right channel to Griezmann, who beat several defenders and cut a cross back to Mbappé.
His shot was deflected, but veered toward a wide-open Theo Hernández at the left post who makes a difficult acrobatic play look simple by slotting the through to score the first goal against the Atlas lions.
At the 79 minutes mark, France’s Aurélien Tchouaméni, 22-year-old Real Madrid midfielder who was vital, especially in replacing the injured N’Golo Kanté on the world cup list launched a counter and found Youssouf Fofana who then located Mbappé, and exchanged passes with Thuram and then made four Morocco defenders look sea sick before his shot was deflected right into the path of wide-open substitute winger Randal Kolo Muani, who replaced Ousman Dembele, only seconds before that to socre in his first touch of the game.
“Small details help real champions win. We saw that tonight,” Regragui admitted.
“Of course they’ve got a lot of substitutes as well that can come in and make a difference, and that’s what happened.”
An advantage in quality and depth tops the roster for the bleus, and it was the difference in a 2–0 match that France will feel fortunate to have won. The Lions were in control for much of the second half.
“The world is proud of this Moroccan team because we showed great desire. We worked hard. We played honestly, with hard working values, and these are the values we wanted to show on the football pitch,” said coach Walid Regragui, who took the job less than three months before the tournament opener.
“I think we gave a good image of Morocco and a good image of African football,” Regragul said.
France was forced into some last-ditch defending at times but has developed a knack of pulling out victories despite not playing its best. The country will be playing in the final for the fourth time in the last seven World Cups, more than anyone else.
“It’s great to have got through to the final,” said France coach Didier Deschamps, who’s 90 minutes away from lifting the World Cup for a third time (once as a player and twice as coach). “It wasn’t an easy victory. We showed our quality, experience and team spirit. We had to dig deep in the challenging moments in the match, and as a coach I’m very proud and pleased with my players.”
