2018 FIFA WORLD CUP – Portugal vs Morocco PREVIEW
The European champions led by Cristiano Ronaldo are back in action and they’re facing up against a team who have dig themselves a HUGE hole after a lackluster, disappointing display losing to Iran. With a win here Portugal would officially send Morocco home as there would be no result possible from the other group game to keep them alive. Morocco’s backs are against the ball, if not winning the game, then they absolutely must avoid a draw as it 100% means an elimination. Portugal put on an exciting show and Ronaldo just continues to hit highs with a hattrick against Spain, while Morocco was a massive let down losing late to Iran. A game where both teams have everything to play for.
PORTUGAL
The Portuguese side have gotten off to a relatively decent start to their campaign. Cristiano Ronaldo has hit the ground running and it seems like he’s finally going to have his world cup. Ronaldo hit a hattrick including an insane free kick in a 3-3 draw against one of the best teams in the world in Spain. However, other attacking players for Portugal slacked a little bit, especially Goncalo Guedes who seemed to lack confidence failing to convert some good opportunities and Bernardo Silva seemed a little to quiet and could’ve done much better. We could see Portugal rotate some attacking players and possibly starting Quaresma who looked very sharp in his short stint on the pitch, or maybe Andre Silva, but what we do know for sure is that Ronaldo is at peak form and Portugal have a chance to beat anyone with him playing like this.
Portugal did get exposed at the back, but let’s be honest the way Spain clicked in that game, nobody would have stopped them. Pepe had a poor game and will need to bounce back against Morocco who are a much less threatening side. Portugal are a very organised side and that one game shouldn’t change that fact. If Portugal’s back 4 get back to their best and Ronaldo continues to play like this, then there’s no way I can see them bottling this game. We could see changes as said already, but it wont be anything major, can only see Portugal improving from the 1st game and looking even sharper here.
MOROCCO
Morocco had an absolute heart breaker in their opening game which made their chances of making out of the group very unlikely. Morocco lost 0-1 to Iran to a 95th minute own goal by Bouhaddouz. Morocco was expected to win that and had high hopes coming into the tournament, but it all went not how they expected, although early in that game Morocco looked very sharp, but as the game went on their performance faded and Iran got comfortable and eventually stole the game. Morocco’s main attacking players Belhanda and Ziyech put in a very lackluster shift and will have to do a much much better job against Portugal because Morocco will have to find a way to score. Even their leader Benatia had an unconvincing performance. Just a rattled start to the world cup for Morocco and it’s disappointing after the way they performed in friendlies and got themselves into form before the tournament and to make things worse they lost Amrabat to a potential concussion injury and will be in doubt to play. A loss now eliminates them.
Coming into this game Morocco’s biggest key will be to try and somehow contain Ronaldo. Their captain, centre back and their best player Benatia will have to be on his game, not only trying to contain Ronaldo by himself, but being a true leader communicating with the rest of the defenders when trying to limit Ronaldo. This will be a true mental test for Benatia and will test his leadership qualities because when Ronaldo is in that form, he’s basically unstoppable. On the other hand, Morocco’s attacking players have to show up and put in a consistent performance. Ziyech will especially be expected to put in a good performance after a poor game against Iran. Morocco know that they need to get a result so their team all around will have to perform. The loss to Iran is heart breaking but this game will test their mental strength. Do Morocco still believe they can advance? Or do they not? If they come into this game not mentally prepared then it will be curtains for them, but if they come in believing they can do this then there may be a slight chance they pull off a surprise.
What to Expect From The Game
We can expect Portugal to pretty much be on the front foot for most of the game. Ronaldo will probably put in another top performance and bag a few goals. The Ronaldo vs Benatia match up does look very intriguing but as we’ve seen he had no trouble with Ramos and Pique so dealing with Morocco’s back four may seem like a joke to him and I’m not even over exaggerating it. Morocco will probably create a few chances themselves on the break, but their inability to convert against Iran worries me and it’s a question mark going into this game. I highly doubt Morocco can bounce back mentally from that 1st game, especially when the european champions are coming to play them with an in form Ronaldo. We should expect a solid Portuguese performance and a 3-0 win. Ronaldo will bag a few more goals.
Group Standings
1 Iran 3 pts +1 GD
2-3 Portugal 1 pt 0 GD
2-3 Spain 1 pt 0 GD
4 Morocco 0 pts -1 GD
ODDS – Decimal (WilliamHill)
Portugal Win – 1.61
Draw – 3.70
Morocco Win – 5.80
Kick Off – 20th June 2018 – 1pm UK Time
