This is also just revenge for the refs saving Spain from a loss back in 2018, with a horribly officiated game. Revenge is sweet.
Morocco spent most of the game sitting back and defending and then trying to counter when the rare opportunity arose. Their next game--whether against Portugal (now leading) or Switzerland--will be different because neither of those teams possess the ball like Spain and thus they won't be sitting back for 75 percent of the game. The game will be more open; Morocco will be going forward, and playing out, more--which will given them chances to score and also give the opponent more space to operate and create, and so in that sense I wouldn't say that Morocco would be favored. But they are a good, athletic team. We'll see what their energy level is next game.
welp called this one. Honestly though as the game headed to penalties, I could only see one outcome. For Spain, this was Russia 2018 (v Russia) all over again... For Morocco I guess it's revenge for Kaliningrad... will be there for the quarterfinal, should be a good game...
It seems that Spain must find another style. They are the biggest football inventors in this century. But everything has its ending. New style searching and loading.
Valderrama on the US Spanish language radio called this the most boring World Cup match he has ever seen. I would not go that far but it was a shame no one scored a goal. Congrats to Morocco. You had a great game plan, executed it well and found a way to survive and advance.
Watching Spain is like watching a chef trying to fillet a fish using a baseball bat. And they only know one way of playing. Time for them to root out the Tiki-Taka fanboys from within, similar to the way Barca had to let go of Johan Cruyff's philosophy after a period of irrelevance.
Spain reverted to the mean They need strikers. Their style fits if they have amazing talent attacking wise as Torres and Villa were crucial in their 2008-2010-2012 wins Iago Aspas and Gerard Moreno should have been taken But anyway personaIly I do not care about Spain wining again. They have 1 WC. 2 Euros on top of that I want others to win
Perhaps. But when teams put 9-10 men behind the ball, it's hard to create quality chances no matter how good your players are....there are just too many bodies in the way
With the whole fallout after Spain’s game and Morocco’s so-called “anti-football”, this video is more relevant than ever.👇🏼pic.twitter.com/I1SgS43Tii— Caio Miguel (@osegundovolante) December 7, 2022
I think the style is fine. The problem is, as most people suggest, there’s no reliable finisher up front. 2008-2012 was a special generation of unbelievable talent. They left huge boots to fill that no country could possibly accomplish. Knocked out of the last three major tournaments via penalties. Round of 16, semifinals and now quarterfinals. No, they couldn’t win those matches, but nor did they lose them (according to FIFA). I’ve seen worst exits. Don’t forget a fourth shootout in the Euro quarters that helped them advance. I feel no major overhaul is needed. Just a few tweeks. I like the new crop of youngsters coming through now. 7 of the squad in Qatar are age 18-20. The new ‘Mister’, de La Fuente, has worked with many of these players while coaching the U-19 and U-21 teams so they’ll be familiar with each other. I feel the future is bright.
The idea of having players ahead (as opposed to behind) the ball against a side that uses only short passes, and has all of its field players set up from the half-line to inside the opponents box,...isn't quite possible unless you want your players to be useless either in an offside position or not covering the opponent. Much of Spain's possession is utterly useless offensively. Defensively, it works brilliantly for Spain because they are able to keep the ball and have the class and skill not to commit too many turn-overs. Without ever seeing the ball, the opponent obviously cannot create chances. However, you need to have a side that has drilled its players to perfection, those without the ball always creating outlets for short passes and those with the ball having sufficient class not to fumble or turnover the ball under pressure, for Spain's system to work even defensively.
This guy says Morocco showed too much inferiority complexes against Portugal and Spain in spite being better, and because of this, will lose against the French: