Blues is a little closer to impossible. By winning the "History" duel against Morocco (2-0) on Wednesday, December 14th, the French national team took another step towards its dream of retaining the title of world champion. There remains a challenge, perhaps the most terrible: Argentina under Lionel Messi.
For "nothing but to win and win the World Cup" in his words, Moroccan coach Walid Regragui had nevertheless prepared a big poker move for France before kick-off: the announcement of the return of Aguirre, the package of the previous tour, and the use of an unprecedented 5-4-1 system. , aims to secure the safety of the Atlas Lions a little more.
The first bluff is animated during chanting. Aguerd is followed by Darit in the sentence. However, France is not at the end of its troubles. She knows she will evolve in the middle of a hostile playing field for her cause. Players are booed as soon as their names are announced. "La Marseillaise" is a well-known song, and it may be heard in many different contexts. And the French must do without Rabiot and Upamecano, who have not sufficiently recovered from a sore throat.
Quick opening of the result
Is it to avoid having excessive ringing in the ears? However, Didier Deschamps' men chose to leave possession to their opponents. They hand the ball over to them, close their penalty area, and attack only by pressing in their midst.
In one of these great rebounds, Griezmann takes advantage of a Moroccan slip to go into space in front of him and in the middle of Mbappe. Bondi's miracle appeal was met and failed on Hernandez, who tries to send a half-volley past Bono (5, 1-0).
Possible worst case scenario for Morocco that does not seem to have come out. Azzedine Onahi sends a shot from 25 meters that forces Hugo Lloris to shoot horizontally (10th). Blues warned: Atlas lions can bite at any time. On the bench, Walid Regraki finally gave up his tactical movement by taking out Sayes, hitting the thighs in the last two matches, and returning to 4-1-4-1, the device that brought him to the last four.
Olivier Giroud twice came close to scoring the final ball: he ran away behind the defense, found Bono's center with a powerful kick (17). (17). Then Mbappe bid farewell to Hakimi and put the ball to the right of Bono. Al Yamq saves. Giroud followed him into the area, but his curled shot from the left missed the goal (36). (36).
Morocco is very close to legalization
The goal was to be of value. A major moment of hesitation followed for the French as the Moroccans proved to be very dangerous. In a corner kick, Giroud releases what he can, Al-Yamiq resumes acrobatic play and Lloris hits the ball on the post (45). Mbappe is untenable on his left side after returning from the dressing room. He doubles the acceleration but his back crosses find no one, except for Conde, who tries to accelerate with Pavard (47th). Morocco responded and came close to equalizing with two balls thrown in the area (53rd, 54th, 66th place). The Atlas Lions are particularly benefiting from French defensive shortcomings on the left flank, such as Mbappe and Theo Hernandez. It seems that the Blues have taken the hit and are no longer responding to the physical challenge of the Moroccans
Then Didier Deschamps opted to bring in Marcus Thuram instead of Giroud
Lilian's son leaves the pivot for Mbappe, occupies the left side, and gets a free kick at the corner post
Mbappe inherits the ball but it does nothing (69th).
The Blues coach releases Kolo Mwani instead of Dembele and he does it well since the Frankfurt striker scored the goal to save: Mbappe launches a series of dribbles in a very small circumference in the Moroccan area, his shot hits and returns to the far post on the oncoming one who sets Bono (79, 2-0 ). \s \sThe Moroccans stand in a KO and the Blues fight back to carry their first clean sheet in the tournament. Before the match, Walid Regragui said that he "does not believe in possession" but rather in pragmatism, praising the qualities of Didier Deschamps in this field. You have to believe the Blues boss gave him a lesson on this by forcing the Atlas Lions to have possession of the ball: 60% possession on arrival.
A tactic that sends the Blues to a second consecutive World Cup final. They will be able to write history, by becoming the first team to retain their title since Pele's Brazil in 1962. As for the brave Moroccans, they can still claim to be the first African team to be on the World Cup podium. I'm not sure about that.