The World Cup draw resulted in the Moroccan national team falling into Group F, along with the teams of Croatia, Belgium and Canada, a group that was described as difficult.
The match between the “Atlas Lions” team, led by coach Walid Rekraki, will start against the “Vatreni” team at two o’clock in the afternoon, Abu Dhabi time, at Al-Bayt Stadium, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators.
Tough confrontation
The list of the Moroccan national team in the World Cup in Qatar includes a group of professional stars in the most prominent European leagues, including Ashraf Hakimi, the right back of the French Paris Saint-Germain team, and Hakim Ziyech, the Chelsea striker.
The coach of the Moroccan national team, Walid Rekragui, confirmed the good readiness of the “Atlas Lions” for tomorrow’s match against his Croatian counterpart, noting that despite the strength of the opponent, the Moroccan national team has world-class players.
During the pre-match press conference, Regragui expressed his confidence in the group to achieve the victory, which he considered would be decided by simple details, stressing that the focus of the Moroccan players on the star of the Croatian national team, Luka Modric only, would be the biggest mistake they committed in the match.
The Moroccan national team doctor, Abd al-Razzaq Hefti, confirmed that the health of the national team players is “good in general,” speaking about the absence of striker Zakaria Abu Khallal from the first match against Croatia.
key match
A number of sports observers confirm that the Moroccan national team’s confrontation against its Croatian counterpart is the key for the “Atlas Lions” towards the next round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Sports analyst Jaafar Atefy considers that the Moroccan national team has all the ingredients to settle the match with Croatia on Wednesday and score a positive result.
In a statement to “Sky News Arabia”, Afifi stresses the importance of winning the opening match points in the first round of the World Cup and presenting a convincing performance by the “Atlas Lions” to sign an honorable participation and enter strongly into the competitions.
The spokesman adds that Morocco, for whom stars who appear in the strongest European leagues are playing, grabs the first match points, requires good mental preparation, technical readiness and tactical reading, in addition to high discipline on the part of all players inside the field.
The main strengths of the “black”
Jaafar Afifi spoke about what distinguishes the Moroccan national team as an integrated team characterized by the homogeneity of the defense and midfield lines, which makes the task of reaching the goal by the opponent a complicated task.
Atefi continues to shed light on the strengths of the “Lions”, speaking of the presence of elements who are good at heading strikes, while they lack effectiveness in translating opportunities sometimes into goals, he said.
The spokesman adds that Morocco is facing a team that is eager to repeat the scenario of its last participation in the World Cup when it reached the final match.
Encounters history
The confrontation that will bring together the “Atlas Lions” and “Vattini” teams in the World Cup finals is the first official match between the two teams.
The Moroccan national team and its Croatian counterpart only met in one opportunity, during a friendly match that was held on the grounds of the Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca in 1996.
The friendly match ended in a positive draw, before the Croatian team decided it in their favor (7-6) after a penalty shoot-out.
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