France aborts Morocco dream with white double yemenat
France ended Morocco adventure in the semi-finals of the World Cup by beating them by two goals without reply, on Wednesday evening, at Al Bayt Stadium.
The goals of the match, Theo Hernandez and Colo Moani, were scored in the 5th and 79th minutes.
The French team continued the campaign to defend the title, to qualify for the final for the second time in a row, and will face Argentina in the final next Sunday at Lusail Stadium.
The Moroccan team will play against Croatia for the bronze medal, in a repeat of the confrontation between the two teams in the first round of the current edition, which ended in a goalless draw in Group F.
The match started at a fast pace, and before Morocco caught their breath, the world champions surprised them with an early goal from Theo Hernandez after an attack started by Griezmann, in which Mbappe participated.
The Atlas Lions tried to make amends for this shock, and they stepped forward to threaten the Roosters with a shot from Ezzedine Onahi, which was kept out by Hugo Lloris, and another attempt from Hakim Ziyech.
Morocco coach Walid Regraki was forced to replace captain Romain Saiss due to his injury, to share his place Salim Maltah in the 21st minute.
The French response was strong and dangerous, as a shot from Giroud was saved by the right post, and Mbappe missed an outright solitary.
In the final minutes of the first half, Griezmann played a corner, which Raphael Varane met with his foot next to the post.
Jawad Yamiq almost equalized with a wonderful scissors, which Lloris narrowly kept out with the help of the post, to bounce to Sofiane Boufal, who shot outside the goal.
At the start of the second half, Yahya Attiyatullah replaced Noussir Mizraoui, to activate the two fronts of the Moroccan national team with the reciprocal moves of Boufal with Hakimi on the right, and Atiyatallah on the left, to help the spearhead Youssef Nasiri.
The Moroccans pressed hard to equalise, but the French defence was solid and vigilant, with Varane and Ibrahima Konaté clearing more than one cross.
Roosters coach Didier Deschamps moved to revitalize the ranks after 65 minutes, bringing on Markus Thuram in place of Giroud.
Kylian Mbappe moved to the spearhead position, hoping to exploit his speed on the counter deep into the Moroccan defence.
Regraki responded with two substitutions at once, with Abdul Razzaq Hamdallah and Zakaria Abu Khalal replacing Al-Nasiri and Boufal, and Abdul Samad Al-Zalzouli replacing Salim Maltah.
In contrast, Kolo Mwani replaced Ousmane Dembélé, and the substitute offered the reward to his coach after scoring the second goal after following up on Mbappe’s shot that hit the earthquake.
The Moroccan team did not despair, but tried to score an honorary goal, as Awahi and Hamdallah missed two opportunities, and did not achieve what he wanted, amid the tears and crying of its fans who left the stadium home, sad for the loss of a historic qualification.
