Doha, November 23 (QNA) – The Moroccan national football team started their journey in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group F, which includes Belgium and Canada, with a goalless draw against Croatia in their match Wednesday at Al Bayt Stadium.
The Moroccan team made a good performance in front of supporting fan crowds and was the best side at most of the match, although missing the final touch when approaching the goal. In return, the 2018 World Cup runners-up were not as expected and lacked the attacking spark.
The Moroccan team started the match with great enthusiasm and were about to score when Boufal made his way toward the goal dodging more than one player but slowed down in taking the shot in front of the goal in the sixth minute. In the 14th minute, Hakim Ziyech’s rebounded off the defense before reaching Achraf Hakimi, who shot weakly onto the lap of the Croatian goalkeeper.
Despite the Croatian ball possession, it was not that effective to reach the goal and make a threat to Yassine Bounou, as the only threat came from Ivan Perisic’s shot over the post in the 17th minute.
The Moroccan offensive efficiency that missed the final touch continued when Ziyech sent a cross behind the defense line that Youssef En-Nesyri didn’t manage to follow in the 19th minute.
The pitch was calm, unlike the stands that were painted with the colors of the Moroccan national team in support of them. The fans were about to burst into cheering in respond to Achraf Hakimi’s strong shot that missed the goal by inches in the 34th minute.
The last minutes of the first half were active when Perisic sent a cross in the 44th minute to Nicola Vlasic, who took the shot, but Bounou was sharp and saved his goal. In the first minute of the first-half injury time, Luka Modric took a long shot that came over the post to end the first half with a goalless draw.
The Moroccan team started the second half with the same spirit, eager to score, as the substitute Yahia Attiyat Allah made it through the defense and sent a long cross for Youssef En-Nesyri, who couldn’t keep up with it. In the 60th minute, Achraf Hakimi made a strong shot from a free kick that was saved by Player Livakovic.
In return, the Croatian team kept ball possession without efficiency, which forced the coach Zlatko Dalic to take the forwarder Andrej Kramaric out and substitute him with Marko Livaja, who almost scored after a cross from Luka Modric in the 72nd minute.
For his part, the Moroccan coach Walid Regragui wanted to boost the offensive efficiency in the last 10 minutes so he sent Abderrazak Hamdallah in to replace En-Nesyri and Abdelhamid Sabiri to replace Azzedine Ounahi.
The last minutes passed without any success from the two teams to change the result, and the match ended in a goalless draw.
The Morocco plays its second match against Belgium on Nov. 28 at Al Thumama Stadium, while the Croatia plays against Canada on Nov. 28 At Khalifa International Stadium.Ā
(QNA)