Gallant Morocco finally lose, as France reach W’Cup final
Sports Wednesday, December 14th, 2022
Morocco’s journey in the World Cup ended on Wednesday as France defeated the African side 2-0 at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar.
The Atlas Lions resilient run ended in the semi-final after they defeated a Ronaldo-led Portugal in the quarter-final to advance to the semis, making them the first African team and Arabian team to ever reach a World Cup final.
Theo Hernandez scored the opening goal early in the fifth minute of the game, while substitute Randal Kolo Muani sealed the win for the European side in the 79th minute.
Although Morocco didn’t make it easy for France, they failed to level up with the defending champions and were unable to find the back of the net even after 13 shots and three shots on target.
Morocco will face Croatia in a third place play-off on Saturday, December 17, 2022.
Morocco’s coach, Walid Regragui, prior to the quarter-finals match against Portugal had said the whole of Africa was solidly behind Morocco going into the match after they sent Spain home in a fabulous win in the round of 16 knockout stage.
The coach said, “We have nothing to lose. The challenge is to do as well as we did in the previous games,” Regragui said on the eve of the match against Portugal.
“We want to show that Africa deserves to be here, Morocco deserves to be here.
“We have a whole people behind us, a continent behind us and the Arab world behind us. That’s a lot of energy behind us. We’re going to try and do everything we can.
“We can do it, we can make history again. It (the support) can push us, help us actually to play with this pressure, not to make any mistakes.”
Morocco up until their semi-final game against France, had the best defensive record in the tournament, having conceded only one goal in their five matches.
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