France – Morocco, the floor is up to the defense

Published on : 13/12/2022 – 17:08

Defending well is “an often underestimated art form”, reminded Jules Koundé to the press before the semi-final France – Morocco which is to take place on Wednesday December 14 at the Al-Bayt stadium. Respectively defensive midfielder and right-back during their respective playing careers, coaches Didier Deschamps and Walid Regragui pay particular attention to this area of ​​football play.

During the meeting between the Blues and the Atlas Lions, the defense should be at the heart of the game between the former best defense in the world and the current one. Decryption of the key men of the two devices.

• France no longer has its former solidity

During the conquest of the second French star in 2018, the defensive fortress built by Didier Deschamps played a key role. But the current defense no longer has the solidity of yesteryear. And for good reason, before the semi-final, she conceded a goal in each of her matches.

It is true that Didier Deschamps had to greatly renew his last line. From the group of 2018, only Raphaël Varane remains. With him, the coach made the choice to successfully install Dayot Upamecano, after Presnel Kimpembe’s package. On the sides, Théo Hernandez took the place of his brother Lucas, injured in the first match against Australia, while on the right, Jules Koundé, central training, pushed on the bench Benjamin Pavard. This defense had never played together before the game against Denmark.

Just in front of the defense, Aurélien Tchouaméni succeeded N’Golo Kanté in the role of sentry. A role he says he accomplishes with “sobriety” at the request of his coach and which makes him the guarantor of balance, when his friends in the middle, Antoine Griezmann and Adrien Rabiot, have more right to project themselves. But excitement is never far away for this neo-holder in blue, like this stupidly conceded penalty against England.

“That doesn’t particularly worry us. We have room for improvement. There were avoidable goals. It’s a new defense. We don’t have many matches in common so we are progressing each time”, tempers Jules Koundé , who is playing his first World Cup in the shoes of a holder.

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“The important thing will be to put one more than our opponents,” said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. And if it was there, the philosophical reinvention of Deschamps on this World Cup in Qatar? A change from “not taking anything” to “scoring more goals than the team opposite” in substance which translates statistically: of the four teams in the semi-finals, France represents the worst defense (tied with Argentina) but the best attack (11 goals).

• Morocco, a safe to break into

On the side of the Atlas Lions, it is rather the opposite. Coach Walid Regragui has built an impressive mountain of solidity: only one goal conceded since the start of the World Cup – and it was also an own goal from Nayef Aguerd. Since August 31 and the coach taking office, no opposing player has pushed the ball into Morocco’s net in eight matches.

“[Pour en arriver là en seulement quatre mois]we dealt with the most urgent: to be well organized tactically, even if it means making sacrifices on the game. The players believed in it and joined the project”, explained, Tuesday, Walid Regragui during the press conference before -match.

As the daily L’Équipe deciphered, Morocco’s defensive impermeability is based on two elements. The first consists in an almost total locking of the axis. The central hinge Nayef Aguerd and Romain Saïss annihilates all the offensives, supported by the sentry Sofyan Amrabat, one of the best recoverers of this World Cup.

And in the corridors, the Atlas Lions leave only the crumbs to their opponents: Boufal and Ziyech do not hesitate to sacrifice their offensive talents to play very close to the sides. Result: a compact block leaving very little opportunity for his opponents to penetrate the surface. And when all fails? There is still the goalkeeper Bounou, very fit in Qatar.

“They are very compact with tight lines. They leave the ball carriers little time to organize themselves. You have to play quickly and try to unbalance them”, decrypts Jules Koundé.

The link in all this? “Solidarity and team spirit. Team spirit is very important to me,” said Regragui. And he applies this precept to the letter during matches, not hesitating to take his frames out when they are tired. The substitutes, even less known than the stars, know how to get up to speed.

Despite the uncertainty regarding the presence of Aguerd or Saïss, the Atlas Lions will sell their skin dearly.