How Morocco made History at World Cup 2022
Morocco made history when they became the first African Nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals, while England’s defeat had an all too familiar ring to it.
Brazil were rocked by Croatia as rivals Argentina and Lionel Messi triumphed in their penalty shoot-out with the Dutch.
Brazil 1 Croatia 1 (Croatia win on pens)
Take the first game, Brazil against Croatia. For long periods, it had been a stultifying affair. Croatia, admittedly producing by far their best performance of the competition, had clearly concluded that their best hope of progress was most likely via penalties, and the best way to get there was to keep possession of the ball. This they did extremely well, as you would expect from such a technically capable outfit with such a gifted orchestrator as Modric. They did it with no real ambition, but it got them to extra-time with barely an alarm.
Finally though, Brazil had their moment. At the end of the first period of extra-time, Neymar received the ball 35 yards out, played a pass and drove at goal. Fatally, Modric stood and watched him go as the Brazilian played a one-two, rather than tracking his run. That enabled Neymar to play a second one, muscle his way through onto the return past, circumnavigate the goalkeeper and drive the ball into the roof of the net. A terrific goal.
And that’s when the brain fog descended. A second goal ends the game at that point, but they seemingly didn’t want it. In that second period, first through a corner, then through a free-kick in the opposition half, Brazil, a side built to score goals, chose not to put the ball into the area, but instead to try to run down the clock. Such muddle headedness brings with it similar confusion of the feet. They clumsily gave away possession, Modric set Croatia on their way and suddenly it was 1-1 and penalties after all.
Neymar Penalty Error
To compound the error, when it came to the spot kicks, incomprehensibly Brazil chose Neymar to take the fifth penalty, a penalty that never came thanks to the spectacular failings of his colleagues. Rule 1 of penalty shootouts is that the first penalty is always the most important, and you get your best taker on that job to set a positive tone in the shootout.
You do not let him feed his ego by taking what he fondly expects to be the winning one ten kicks down the line, because there’s every chance you won’t get there. Brazil didn’t.
They are now on their joint longest period without winning the trophy since they first lifted the World Cup, some 24 years. That first long, dry period came to an end when they won in 1994 in the USA, so now is a good time for you to get the best odds on them ending what will be a 24 year barren period in 2026. In the USA.
Netherlands 2 Argentina 2 (Argentina win on pens)
In the second game, both sides had their moments of potentially fatal stupidity. Going 2-0 up after 73 minutes, Argentina fell into the trap that so many sides find themselves in and simply stopped playing, looking to see out time – an especially bizarre tactic in a World Cup where eight, nine, ten minutes are routinely being added on, only extending the agony.
Invited to attack and with nothing to lose, the Dutch threw on taller and taller players, shoved the centre-backs up front and launched the kind of route one barrage we haven’t seen since Bobby Gould masterminded Wimbledon’s reenactments of the Dambusters’ raids. Argentina retreated further and further, played less and less, and eventually paid the price.
Weghorst gave the Dutch hope with a guided header but time gradually ticked away. But in the final seconds, the Netherlands produced one of the sublime moments of the competition, a fabulously worked free-kick full of guile and deceit that dummied the Argentine defence and most of the crowd before Wieghorst swept the ball in.
Messi Steps Up
Having got back in the game via that blitzkreig approach, you’d expect the Dutch to carry it into extra-time against a shell-shocked Argentina who were there for the taking. One more shove and they were gone. But no, the Netherlands returned to their ponderous build up from the back, passing largely aimlessly among themselves. With that, their advantage was gone.
Argentina regrouped in the first period of extra-time and in the second, they swarmed around the Dutch goal, now fully in command of the game again. They couldn’t quite find the winner, but the momentum had completely swung their way again, and they took that into the spot kicks.
Smarter than Brazil, Messi took their first – and scored. Coming after van Dijk had missed, that put Argentina in control and they never lost it. As seems to happen at every World Cup, the Dutch were out and left to lick yet another self inflicted wound…
Morocco 1 Portugal 0
Dreams go on, dreams fall apart. It’s the nature of the World Cup, and the reason why knockout football is the best and purest form of the game – Champions League and Europa League etc please take note.
For Morocco, the impossible dream remains alive. The first African nation to ever reach the last four of the World Cup, their victory over Portugal came, once again, by doing exactly what they do best and not being swayed from it for a moment. The best defensive side in Qatar, they were once again brilliantly organised, wholly committed, but added to that is a growing confidence and stature.
En-Nesyri gave them a first half lead with a strong header and from there, Portugal, however many attackers they threw on, including Ronaldo, didn’t really look as though they were going to claw the game back. You can have 73% of the ball, but if you can’t produce anything with it, it is of no value to you. If this World Cup that has been overflowing with on screen stats at the drop of a hat has shown us anything, it’s that none of them matter. It’s goals that count.
Farewell Cristiano Ronaldo
Morocco looked comfortable throughout until that inevitably nervy last few minutes, while Portugal only looked increasingly desperate. The end, when it came, was not just that of a game, but of an era, for Ronaldo will now never add the World Cup to his haul, having won pretty much everything else he has ever entered. Time waits for nobody though and his is now gone, certainly at this level.
As noted after Morocco came through the last round, the World Cup has never produced a real outlier as a winner. That might no longer be true in a week or so, because who will want to face Morocco and the footballing equivalent of 90 minutes of banging your head against a wall?
England 1 France 2
France are the team next up after they came through against England. It could have gone either way, but whenever you use that phrase, it’s a given that in the end, England will lose.
When it really matters, when it comes down to the knockout games against the big nations, England always lose, and always have since 1966. They have not had a single win against a serious nation at the top of its game in a knockout fixture since Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick – Germany in the Euros in 2021 doesn’t count, as their performance in Qatar underlined.
Having been lauded for their attacking talent, they couldn’t score from open play. Defensively, while they dealt well with Mbappe, they allowed Giroud a free header. You can’t do those things at elite level and hope to get away with it.
As manager, Southgate will inevitably take some criticism for the exit but in truth, the blame does not rest with him. Indeed, he has done more to mask England’s deficiencies than any manager since Sir Alf himself. The problems are more deep seated, and they lie largely within the Premier League.
Too much too soon for England’s elite
It pays young English players far too much, far too soon. It ensures that none of them need ever leave their comfort zone, much less the country. Wouldn’t footballers like Foden, Rashford, Grealish all be better for three years trying to make their way in Spain, Italy, Germany? Is it any coincidence that Bellingham has been their best player in Qatar, a youngster who has had the guts to go and test himself in another country?
England’s elite players are, by and large, too soft, have it too easy and, in that final analysis at the highest level, that is the difference between winners and losers. That may be a harsh lesson in the immediate aftermath of an emotionally crushing defeat, but it’s one that has been avoided for too long and far better to do that than wallow in the self-pity of ‘cruel on England’ headlines that are being served up.
To suffer a cruel exit once is, well, cruel. To do it every two years, like clockwork, and still fail to do anything about it, is masochism.
Read all about the dramatic, history-making World Cup semi-finals here.
Sir Alf Ramsey: England 1973 focuses on the final full year of Sir Alf’s reign as England boss. The nation that won the World Cup in 1966 failed to even qualify for the 1974 tournament. Ramsey was suddenly a man out of time, both on and off the pitch. The failing fortunes of the England team mirrored those of a post-Empire nation heading for its own fall.
A must read for all fans. Order your copy.