By Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu - Professor of Health and Kinisiology, University of Texas at Tyler
1. Team spirit
Morocco has demonstrated the ultimate collective team spirit to eliminate higher ranked teams that boasted a generous supply of star individual talents – Belgium, Spain, Portugal. What Morocco lacks in stardom was compensated by sheer desire to win and technical application by the whole team.
2. Driven by history
The Atlas Lions defended with all of their hearts and then scored, preventing any possibility of overtime. Even injuries – and striker
Walid Cheddira being
sent off after a second yellow card – did not destabilise the defensive rhythm of the team.
Portugal, including star player
Cristiano Ronaldo, could not find the equaliser. From the beginning, the Moroccans looked determined that history would be made.
3. Defences win championships
Heading into the semi-finals, only Morocco and Croatia, who drew in the first round, remain unbeaten.
In the round of 16, they eliminated Spain on penalty kicks, where their goalkeeper
Yassine Bounou made huge saves to propel Morocco to the quarter-finals. The elimination of Portugal, just like Spain, came on the back of a solid defence that conceded no goals. It is often said that defences win championships.
If that’s the case then Morocco has the qualifications to win it all. But they must believe in their strengths and summon sufficient energy to defend for long stretches of time in the upcoming matches.
So far, their ball possession has been 22% against Spain and 23% against Portugal, which speaks to their defensive discipline and efficient execution at scoring.
The low possession percentages also show that having plenty of ball possession is not a guarantee for victory. However, taking leads also allows the team to narrow spaces, forcing the opposition to run more – and then be hit on the counter attack.
4. Fans are the 12th player
Morocco finds itself in the unique position of carrying the dual hopes of the Arab region as well as the African continent. The quarter-final felt like a
home game for Morocco, with the team’s supporters dominating in the stands.
The Moroccan fans cheered the team, jeered Portuguese players and
relentlessly willed on their heroes.After the final whistle, the stadium erupted as thousands jumped up and down, hugging and embracing. With fans acting as the 12th player for Morocco, it would not be a big shock if the Atlas Lions can dig deep and mount one more upset to make it to the finals.
Out of the four countries remaining, Argentina and France are the only ones to have lifted the trophy. Croatia and Morocco are underdogs, but they are the people’s favourite teams in Qatar. Either of them could open a new chapter in the history of the World Cup.
5. Star performers
Despite the pressure of bearing the burden of history, the Atlas Lions have demonstrated that they have the
technical and tactical capacity to cope. Indeed, the team has been steady, organised, serene, defensively sound,
creative in midfield and smart and efficient
in attack. Bounou,
Achraf Hakimi,
Azzedine Ounahi,
Romain Saiss,
Sofyan Amrabat, En-Nesyri and
Hakim Ziyech have been Morocco’s stand out performers.
Historically, Morocco has been a trailblazer at the World Cup for Africa and were not fazed by Spain and Portugal. This team will present a difficult challenge for France in the last four on Wednesday.
6. Local coaching
If the Cinderella story continues, it will be because coach
Walid Regragui has installed
an effective defend-and-counter style that none of their opponents have come close to solving so far.
Regragui has ingeniously set up and steered the team to the semi-finals and, in the process, changed the false narrative that local African coaches are not equal to the task of masterminding team success at this level.
Indeed Regragui’s side, despite
missingWest Ham’s
Nayef Aguerd, Bayern Munich’s
Noussair Mazraouiand losing captain Saiss to injury, has shown that an African coach can creatively harness both the skills and the wills of the players to achieve national glory.
Eyes on the trophyThe 2022 World Cup has been characterised by unexpected upsets and exceptional entertainment for fans. One of the goals of world football body Fifa is to continue growing the game.
Morocco’s qualification for a semi-final spot is a breakthrough in demonstrating that parity is emerging. There is a big portion of the world’s population that would erupt with joy and tears if team Morocco have their name engraved on the trophy.
This article first appeared on The Conversation. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of The Joburg Post.