The match of the day
A great page in the history of football will be written this Wednesday evening, between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
France and Morocco will meet for the first time in official competition, in the hope of joining Argentina in the World Cup final.
The Blues are chasing a second consecutive World Cup final (never seen since 2002) and a second title in a row (never seen since 1970).
The Moroccans are the first African team to have reached the last four.
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And the coach, Walid Regragui, warned: “
We want to change the mentality of our continent.
For that, Morocco will again rely on a low block, an iron defense and a great Bounou in the cages, but also technicians to punish on the counter-attack (Boufal, Ziyech...).
Didier Deschamps said he was wary of these "
offensive
transitions
".
France, however, has a variety of offensive weapons, from the speed of Mbappé to the power of Giroud, and will not revolutionize its game plan. "
The objective is always the desire to have the ball
", promised The fields.
The broadcast schedule and channels
France - Morocco (Semi-final): 8 p.m. (TF1, beIN Sports 1)
The program of the Blues this Wednesday
The France team will play its semi-final at 10 p.m. local time.
After a lunch scheduled at 1:30 p.m., players will take a nap of 1:30 a.m. maximum.
Didier Deschamps' talk is set for 4 p.m.
Then will come the departure at 7 p.m. for the Al-Bayt stadium, located in the city of Al-Khor, almost 50 km north of Doha.
In a 67,000 seat stadium, 3,000 French supporters are announced.
Not sure that we will hear them once the match has started: at least 20,000 Moroccan supporters are expected.
For the team compositions, defender Dayot Upamecano and midfielder Adrien Rabiot are uncertain after missing collective training on Tuesday.
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The words of Walid Regragui
Franco-Moroccan born in Corbeil-Essonnes, the coach of the Atlas Lions, Walid Regragui, spoke of "
an honor and a pleasure to face France
" at a press conference on Tuesday.
"
I tell the players not to pay attention to who they play
," he said of the strong bond between France and Morocco.
I said the same thing before facing Belgium, we have Belgian-Moroccan dual nationals too.
It will be a party for all French-Moroccan dual nationals.
We're going to party on the Champs all together.
We live together, we are happy to be together.
»
Player to watch: Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
In football, the middle sector is sometimes referred to as "the engine room".
And in Qatar, the guardian of the keys to this room is Sofyan Amrabat.
The defensive midfielder did not miss a minute of the World Cup with Morocco.
He shocked Spain in the round of 16, gave Portugal a nightmare in the quarter.
No one has recovered more balls than him in the tournament (41, or 8.2 / match).
The dream sentinel, the one who fills all the gaps, who wins duels, who initiates counter-attacks.
“
He is our first raiser and first defender
,” described his coach, Walid Regragui, at the start of the World Cup.
Physically exhausted, Amrabat holds firm thanks to an excessive physical body.
He has been playing since 2020 at Fiorentina, a subscriber to the soft underbelly of Serie A. But his departure is rumored this winter.
PSG, OM, Tottenham and Liverpool would be interested, with a price that would exceed 30 M€.
If the Atlas Lions defeat France, it will be with a great Amrabat or it will not be.
Sofyan Amrabat in the duel with Sergio Busquets during Spain - Morocco in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
KARIM JAAFAR / AFP
Expression of the day: harvesting an opportunity
"He may be a great player, but Cristiano Ronaldo, he has harvested this season."
No, your co-worker is not insinuating that Ronaldo picked grapes.
"Harvest a goal opportunity" is to miss a big opportunity to score by being clumsy.
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The expression proper to sport would find its origin in the role of the treader, who must burst the berries of grapes by trampling them with enthusiasm in a vat.
If he harvested a few opportunities in Qatar, Olivier Giroud was also effective at other times, he who scored 4 goals in 4 matches with the Blues at the World Cup.
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