The “Atlas Lions” are counting on their good knowledge of “La Liga”

History calls Morocco from the top of neighboring Spain

• Ashraf Hakimi, the wedding maker of Morocco, in the Qatar World Cup.

  A.F.B

• Morata (the golden substitute) is on the list of Spain coach Luis Enrique.

  EPA

picture

The Moroccan national football team seeks to write a new history in its sixth participation in the World Cup finals, when it meets neighboring Spain, the 2010 champion, today, at the Education City Stadium in Doha, in the final price.

The “Atlas Lions” repeated their achievement in 1986 when they became the first Arab and African team to reach the final price of the world wedding, before they were knocked out by West Germany 0-1 in the 89th minute with a human wall error following a direct free kick by Lothar Matthews.

This time, the Moroccans aspire to achieve what the golden generation led by Mohamed Timoumi and Aziz Bouderbala failed to do, and write a new history by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time and repeating the achievement of Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana in 1990, 2002 and 2010, respectively.

The two teams met once in the World Cup and it was in the last edition when Morocco was just around the corner from achieving victory after advancing 2-1 until the first minute of stoppage time, when the Spaniards equalized through Yago Aspas.

At the time, Morocco was out of the competition by losing its first two matches against Iran and Portugal, with one score, 0-1.

The two teams also met in 1961 in the African-European play-off that qualifies for the Chilean version the following year, and Spain won 1-0 in the first leg and 3-2 in the second leg.

In today's match, Morocco is counting on the experience of its players and their good knowledge of Spanish football, especially Seville goalkeeper Yassin Bounou, who won the (Samora) award for best goalkeeper in La Liga last season, and his club colleague Youssef Al-Nusairi, along with promising Barcelona loanees to Asuna Abdel Samad Al-Zalzouli and Ashraf Hakimi, who started His football career with Real Madrid, Jawad Al-Yamiq (Valladolid) and second goalkeeper Mounir Al-Mohammadi (previously defended the colors of Malaga, Almeria and Numancia).

However, what increases the enthusiasm of the “Atlas Lions” is what is being promoted about the “underestimation” of the Spaniards after they preferred to finish the first round in Group E to avoid facing Brazil in the quarter-finals and Argentina in the semi-finals.

Their captain and Barcelona, ​​​​Sergio Busquets, denied, after the sudden and resounding loss to Japan 1-2 in the last third round, that he sought to choose a specific opponent, “We aimed to win .. We did not want to choose our (next) opponent.”

His coach, Luis Enrique, said: "I am not happy at all. Yes, we qualified, and I was hoping to be in the lead. Japan's goal upset the match. I don't want to celebrate anything."

Busquets explained that facing Morocco will not be easy, “Things have changed suddenly.

We were top of the group, and in moments we were second.

We have to forget the last game and focus on the next game.”

He added, “It will not be an easy task for the Moroccan national team.

Most of the players play in European clubs, and the way they play is very similar to European teams, we must be fully focused.

He added, “Most of the fans will support them as if the match was at their home.

It will be a difficult game, without a doubt, and we are ready for it.”

For his part, his colleague in the Catalan club, Jordi Alba, stressed the need to avoid the mistakes that his country made against Japan, and said, "We did not appear as expected in front of Japan. We made many mistakes, and we must avoid them in front of Morocco."

He added, “The Moroccan national team is very difficult, and the decision of the match will depend on simple details, so caution should be exercised.

I have confidence in our ability to win.”

 The two teams met once in the 2018 World Cup, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

Morocco is one match away from achieving the historic achievement of reaching the quarter-finals.

To view an electronic supplement .. the World Cup teams, 

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news