{"id":4688,"date":"2026-07-10T09:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4688"},"modified":"2026-07-10T09:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:03:43","slug":"without-offensive-teeth-morocco-simply-strikes-out-against-frances-firepower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4688","title":{"rendered":"Without offensive teeth, Morocco simply strikes out against France\u2019s firepower"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FOXBOROUGH \u2014 Six World Cup teams have been unable to figure out France. Paraguay came closest to showing the way, approaching the game like they were still fighting the Chaco War. Maybe Morocco thought it could do something similar, only better, with Achraf Hakimi on defense and a nearly unbeatable goalkeeper in Yassine Bounou.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Six high school sports takeaways, including a CFL signing from Mansfield, coaching changes, and more<\/a><\/p>\n

Not happening, though. The Moroccans were never going to trouble the French without a true striker in their lineup. They could defend all day, which they did. But missing a point of reference for clearances, and, also, a counterattacking threat, left them helpless as France won, 2-0, in a quarterfinal Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi was apparently planning, or hoping, to keep things tight until the final minutes, then either go for it with a striker or get the contest into penalty kicks \u2014 a Bounou specialty. Once Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 opened the scoring in the 60th minute, Ouahbi\u2019s hand was forced. He sent in forward Soufiane Rahimi and setup midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, but it was too late.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Related: <\/span><\/span>Allez les Bleus! Outside the Four Seasons in Boston, fans wait for a glimpse of French World Cup team<\/div>\n

There might not have been anything Ouahbi could have done without Ismael Saibari, out with an injury sustained in a 3-0 rout of Canada. Along with Rahimi, Morocco had two other forwards listed on the roster, Ayoube Amaimouni and Ayoub El Kaabi. Apparently, Ouahbi did not believe either could be effective.<\/span><\/p>\n

That left it to 5-foot-6-inch Brahim D\u00edaz to attempt to fill the forward role. D\u00edaz, a highly-skilled Real Madrid star, is Morocco\u2019s most accomplished attacker. But to be effective, D\u00edaz must be in a position to complement a physical strike partner, or play as an attacking midfielder. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Atlas Lions, like most teams, are used to being able to find a back-to-goal striker on clearances. And, so, early in the second half, attempting to play out of the back, they sent a high ball to D\u00edaz in the center circle. French players, towering over D\u00edaz, simply backed off as he attempted to head on. They regained possession and, seconds later, Mbapp\u00e9 converted.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

So, they failed to match their 2022 semifinal run, going out quietly after a strong start that included a 1-1 tie with Brazil and a penalty kicks victory over the Netherlands. Their weaknesses were exposed, though in fairness, they also lost left winger Abde Ezzalzouli to injury before tournament. Another explanation for Morocco\u2019s exit could be related to too much competing, and maybe not peaking at the right time. Last year, the team won the Arab Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, went 8-0-0 in qualifying, and had five friendlies for a total of 26 matches (23-1-2). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was quite surprised by the starting 11,\u201d France coach Didier Deschamps said. \u201cI tried to understand why [Ouahbi] made these choices. No real forwards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Coco Gauff \u2018panicked\u2019 on match-point miss in drama-filled women\u2019s semifinal setback at Wimbledon<\/a><\/p>\n

Deschamps also noted Morocco will be acting as co-host to the 2030 World Cup, and it has a young team, \u201cleading you to believe Morocco has a bright future ahead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>Boston bids farewell to the World Cup<\/div>\n

France, though, has few defects. Unless you count defenders shanking and whiffing on clearances. One nearly led to an own goal by Dayot Upamecano, another to a corner kick. <\/span><\/p>\n

But Les Bleus are resourceful and, when mistakes occur, they are good at recovering, apparently eager to support each other. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is what happened on the second goal. In the 66th minute, a casual turnover off a rabona from Michael Olise led to a Morocco breakaway. Olise\u2019s teammates gave chase and earned a throw-in, which appeared to catch Morocco flat-footed; Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 doubled the lead. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrance is very talented, they have incredibly good players,\u201d Ouahbi said. \u201cThe are solid and very encouraging of each other. They want to go all the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed. We wanted to go on. The first half was very complicated. France is very good getting the ball wide and caused a lot of problems on the wings. They ended up being in a comfort zone. I wanted to make substitutions in the first half, but [decided] to do it later. At the beginning of the second half, we had more possession and were running more. But we have to recognize that [France] is a great team, great players. They were good in transition. And we lacked ideas and freshness, and we need to do more when we had possession.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more \u2018He made me a better coach\u2019: Joe Mazzulla offers his gratitude to Jaylen Brown after his stunning trade to the 76ers<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>More World Cup coverage<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Moroccans were never going to trouble the French without a true striker in their lineup, and without Ismael Saibari, they faced that reality on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nWithout offensive teeth, Morocco simply strikes out against France\u2019s firepower - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4688\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Without offensive teeth, Morocco simply strikes out against France\u2019s firepower - 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