Morocco, the one African workforce nonetheless within the World Cup, will face an in-form Portugal of their first-ever quarter-final.
Who: Portugal vs Morocco
The place: Al Thumama Stadium
When: , December 10, 6pm (15:00 GMT)
It’s a contest between two sides that might be on the peak of their confidence.
Morocco’s Atlas Lions are unbeaten at this World Cup and have already pulled off two main upsets, in opposition to Spain and Belgium. However they’ll be up in opposition to a Portugal facet that fired six targets previous Switzerland on Tuesday – with no need to start out with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Morocco, buoyed by their penalty heroics in opposition to Spain within the final 16, at the moment are in uncharted territory: They've by no means made it to the quarter-finals earlier than. However they've solely conceded one aim in 4 World Cup video games. Morocco additionally boast arguably the most vocal and devoted set of supporters at this event.
If Morocco win, they would be the first African workforce to achieve a World Cup semi-final. The winner of their sport in opposition to Portugal will tackle both England or France within the ultimate 4.
Portugal’s coach, Fernando Santos, selected to start out the Switzerland sport with star ahead Ronaldo on the bench. The choice appeared to unshackle the attacking creativity within the workforce as Ronaldo’s alternative Goncalo Ramos bagged himself a hat-trick. Ramos has scored 14 targets in 21 video games for Benfica this season and lived as much as his nickname O Feiticeiro – the wizard – in opposition to the Swiss. He might be a participant that Morocco might want to regulate.
Morocco have proven unbelievable composure up to now on this event and are unlikely to be intimidated by the event. Nothing embodies their calm and picked up spirit greater than Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain’s defensive stalwart, Achraf Hakimi, who scored their successful penalty in opposition to Spain with the gentlest of panenkas.
Yassine “Bono” Bounou, Morocco’s mild-mannered goalkeeper, was the match’s hero as Spain failed to attain a single penalty within the shootout. He might want to proceed this way within the face of a red-hot Portugal assault.
To be clear, Morocco usually are not only a defensive facet; additionally they boast a substantial artistic aptitude, together with Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal, the previous Southampton winger who bamboozled Spain’s Marcos Llorente a number of instances along with his trickery.
Portugal additionally boast an abundance of artistic expertise, with the likes of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes driving ahead and Manchester Metropolis’s Bernardo Silva in midfield.
Danilo Pereira, the Paris Saint-Germain centre again, remains to be a doubt for the sport after fracturing a number of ribs in coaching. Nevertheless, Pepe, the 39-year-old veteran, has accomplished a effective job as a alternative and even grabbed a aim in Portugal’s 6-1 rout of Switzerland.
The 2 groups have confronted one another twice on the World Cup. On the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Morocco beat Portugal 3-1 within the group phases. Ronaldo scored the one aim of the sport on the 2018 World Cup in Russia as Portugal picked up an important three factors to progress to the spherical of 16.
The 37-year-old, beset by controversies in latest weeks, will wish to cement his legacy by extending Portugal’s run at this World Cup, more likely to be his final. However historical past beckons for Morocco, too. It’s the stuff goals and heartbreak are product of.
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