Fastgoal.com <World Cup 2018> - Group B - Morocco Team Review

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Morocco

FIFA World Ranking: 42
Qualifying Average Goals Per Match: 1.63
Qualifying Average Goals Against Per Match: 0.13
Qualifying Top Scorer: Khalid Boutaib (4)
World Cup Best Performance: Last 16 (1986)

Group B Opponents: Iran, Portugal and Spain.


The Manager: Herve Renard
The well-travelled Renard’s managerial career has taken him all around the World. It is in the international sphere where he has found the greatest success however, becoming the first coach in history to win the African Nations Cup with two different countries, leading Zambia to victory in 2012 and the Ivory Coast in 2015. Renard has carried this international prowess into his time at Morocco, leading to the Atlas Lion’s qualifying for their first World Cup in 20 years.


The Squad:
The vast majority of the squad ply their trade in the top or second tier European Leagues, with only three players being drawn from the relatively week Moroccan championship.

In the form of Juventus’s Medhi Benatia and Real Madrid’s Achraf Hakimi they have an excellent mix of class, experience and youthful endeavour at the back where they are particularly strong.

Mbark Boussoufa and Nordin Amrabat bring plenty of experience in midfield, with Hakim Ziyech being the main creative force on the left-hand side. Ziyech caused plenty of controversy when opting to play for Morocco ahead of Holland, but that doesn’t look like such a bad decision now.

The one glaring hole in the Morocco squad comes up front. Hopes rest on the relatively low-key duo of Ayoub El Kaabi – who was a revelation at the recent African tournament for home-based players – and Khalid Boutaib who spent last season playing in Ligue 2 in France.


Star Man: Medhi Benatia
This defensive rock seems to have learned a thing or two playing in the often-impenetrable Juventus defence in Serie A. Morocco’s captain leads by example with his class and composure and heads up what is a superbly marshalled back line. So good is Morrocco’s defence that they didn’t concede a single goal in the Group Stage of African qualifying.


Outlook:
Whether they eventually make it out of this group or otherwise, one things seems certain, they will provide a formidable obstacle to overcome for each side that they face. Renard was a defender himself in his playing days, and it certainly shows in the way his side is set up. Whilst pacey and dangerous on the break, they do seem to struggle for a cutting edge, and that ultimately may prove their undoing in what is a tight Group. Nevertheless with games against similarly defensively minded Portugal and Iran likely to be tight, it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise should they make it through.


Group B Prediction: http://fastgoal.com/forum/index.php?topic=2450.0

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