Saibari out for Morocco but coach says France game will not hold any surprises
- They must, however, cope on Thursday without striker Ismael Saibari, who hurt his hamstring early in their last-16 victory over Canada
FOXBOROUGH: Morocco have no special plans for their World Cup quarter-final against France but know they will need to match their heavily fancied opponents in all departments, coach Mohamed Ouahbi said on Wednesday.
They must, however, cope on Thursday without striker Ismael Saibari, who hurt his hamstring early in their last-16 victory over Canada.
“He’s not ready but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi told a press conference.
Saibari scored goals in each of Morocco’s three group games and netted the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over the Netherlands in the last 32.
“With regards to preparing for the match, there will not be any surprises. I have nothing to hide. I’m not somebody who is keen on surprises, and those of you who have analysed our games, you know that we have a clear idea of how we want to play.
“Of course, the key will be to hurt them when we have possession, but it’s not only on the wings. We have to be patient with the ball, and to find where we can go through on the sides or in the centre.
“We’ve proven that we can hurt any team, and that’s the goal. But I’m not going to go into too many details,” the Morocco coach added.
France beat Morocco in the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar four years ago.
“Every match is different, has its own context, its own history, and it’s not going to be the same as in 2022,“ Ouahbi said.
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“What is important is that now we have a team that is different. We’re going to face a different French team than the one from four years ago. Both teams are even better and that’s normal because we are two federations, two countries that work very well.”
Ouahbi pushed back at reporters who suggested his side had achieved much by making it to the last eight.
“I always like to say that we’ll take stock of the situation at the end of the tournament,“ he said. “We’re not going to listen to people who will say, ‘Oh, it’s great what you have done up till now’. France might be favourites, but we were going to do everything possible to win. Being at this stage is not a bonus. The bonus is to win the World Cup.”
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