Don't miss a goal of this massive semi-final showdown kicking off live and free on SBS On Demand at 5:30AM AEDT this Thursday.
Crazy and intense in the battle, smart in game management with the ability to absorb and play through pressure, Morocco have shaken the foundations of Europe’s football hierarchy.
Africa’s first-ever semi-finalist is also the pride of the Arab region. Fan euphoria has been recycled to create an irresistible force, the power of which is only fully appreciated watching them live in the stadium. A wall of noise generates a supercharged energy that surges through the playing group.
Morocco have now surpassed the three other African sides which have been stopped at the World Cup quarter-final stage - Cameroon in 1990, Senegal 2002 and Ghana in 2010.
In Qatar they have also beaten Belgium, Spain and Portugal without conceding a goal, and faced only nine shots on target in their five matches, keeping four clean sheets. This has all been achieved with a template of compressing the space when they haven’t got the ball (which is often) strangling the opposition, defending as one and when an opportunity arises, transitioning swiftly.
We could discuss the unfulfilled story of Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career and the soap opera that has enveloped him and Portugal. But that would just divert from the tournament’s most compelling story: Morocco.
Not only a master defensive tactician, Coach Walid Regragui has also shaped the narrative, empowering it into a powerful weapon, choosing his words carefully to cut through the euphoria.
"We are the Rocky Balboa of this World Cup, we all have the right and obligation to dream of being world champions,” he said after beating Portugal.
“We are the team that everyone loves. We may not have as much talent, but we have faith, desires, passion, and we have won. It is not about miracles, but about the result of work,” he added.
With injury concerns over key players, captain Romain Saiss, Noussair Mazraoui, Nayef Aguerd and Sofyan Amrabat, Morocco may need a miracle to get past France in their semi-final, but the one certainty of this tournament has been uncertainty of any outcome. Let’s see if the African/Arab dream can be extended one more step.
Unwavering belief also key to Croatia's triumph over Brazil
The quarter-final between Brazil and Croatia was supposed to be where the irresistible force wore down the immovable object.
Brazil’s array of attacking aces would surely trump the ultimate game managers and in the first period of extra time when Neymar Jnr scored it looked like that would be that.
Something curious for me happened at half time of extra time. Neymar was celebrating with his teammates, I thought prematurely, they thought it was done.
But this Croatian team never know when it’s over, never stop believing and after staring down the piercing glare of a World Cup exit, they said not today, not now.
Somewhere they found energy and purpose and when substitute Bruno Petkovic tucked away Mislav Orsic’s cutback in the second period of extra time it sent the quarter-final to the roller-coaster ride of penalties. One shot on target for one goal in open play. Now that’s efficiency.
To see Luka Modric orchestrate the midfield over the 120 minutes and coolly slot away his spot kick was fairytale-like for football’s Peter Pan. When the width of the goalpost stopped Marquinhos, South America’s most populous nation felt that all too familiar shock that has defined their last 16 years of World Cup football.
Modric celebrated like his dream had just been saved. He was quickly congratulated by former club teammate Casemiro who delayed his crushing heartache to display the highest measure of sportsmanship and respect.
Zlatko Dalic’s men will match up well against Argentina. The question is, at 37 and after two punishing knockout matches how much more can Modric deliver, because Croatia will need his genius to counter that of Lionel Messi.
This semi-final is a tribute to the consecutive Ballon d’Or winners of 2018 and 2019. How blessed we are to have these two mercurial players on the pitch on such a big occasion. Both are chasing the same World Cup dream but only one will end up having the chance to define his legacy.
Who’s your pick?
