Moroccan question dominates debate as the Atlas Lions eye Portugal upset

By Isaac Swila in Doha

Eye-catching performances, resoluteness at the back, and neatness on the ball, have earned Morocco’s Atlas Lions the enviable giant-slayers tag.

With the odds stacked against them and the bookmakers giving the squad little odds in their World Cup Finals campaign, they’ve ripped the form book and the predictions to threads, vanquishing all the opponents enroute to the quarter-finals.

Pooled in Group F alongside 2018 runners-up Croatia, the FIFA second-best ranked team Belgium, a star-studded squad boasting of immense experience, and Canada, the Walid Regragui coached side has shown little respect to the opposition.

They opened their group campaign by earning a cherished point against Croatia. This proved vital in building the players confidence, making it sky-high. Led by non-other than Luka Modric, the evergreen playmaker, Croatia had everything to go for them in this litmus test but Morocco’s mean defence, which has so far conceded just once in 390 minutes, limited them to a barren draw.

Up next for the Lions was the fancied Red Devils of Belgium. A clash between ‘Lions’ and ‘Devils’ would definitely get everyone talking and Morocco did just that. They tore Kevin de Bryune’s Devils to shreds for a 2-0 win, before completing an impressive group stage run with a 2-1 win over already knocked out Canada, to secure passage to the Last 16 as group leaders on seven points.

In the Last-16 they had nothing to lose. Facing a former champion, in the frame of Spain, they developed a game plan, allowing the Spaniards to boss possession and have more of the ball. The Europeans, winners of the 2010 title in South Africa are masters in tiki taka and Regragui, aware of this strength or weakness, opted to have a tight defence, with the hope of catching their opponents from the run of play, and use of the wings to launch attacks. The strategy worked and they could have nicked a goal, late, late into extra time had it not been for lethargy.

Equally impressive about the Moroccans is their players’ technical ability. They are confident and easy on the ball, ably spraying the passes in tight passes even when under pressure. They do so faultlessly, making football look sexy, if not easy. Of course, of the five African teams that competed here - Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon and Ghana - no one matches the Atlas Lions when it comes to technical ability.

Win drives the Gulf crazy

Important to note is that their famous Round of 16 win against Spain has inspired Africa, and the Gulf states, making for huge talking points here. The win has been celebrated in Saudi Arabia, as has been in Qatar, Yemen and every corner of the Middle East with the local media framing it as “first Middle East team.” In Qatar, the leading daily newspaper The Gulf went heads over heel in its celebration, with a complete picture of the squad celebrating on its frontpage while international broadcaster Al Jazeera was not left behind.

But as their win unites the Arab world, for football factualists, the Atlas Lions are here by virtue of the Africa ticket, not the Arab, Middle East or Asian ticket. They are first, an Africa team in this competition, before anything else – FIFA records state as much.

Facing the Portuguese

On Saturday, when they take on Portugal from 6pm at Al Thumama Stadium, they could write more history if they knock the Europeans out.

In Achraf Hakimi in defence, they have one of the tournament’s standout players. Solid in defence, he’s a ball-carrying defender who can instigate an attack by a simple spay of a pass.

How they line up and how badly they want it will determine how far they go in this competition.

The author is an editor at RMS