Hakim Ziyech scored Morocco’s first goal in the 4th minute of the Atlas Lions’ confrontation with Canada, with a beautiful ball that played over the advance of the Canadian goalkeeper.
Youssef Al-Nusairi added the second goal for the Atlas Lions in the 23rd minute, after a long ball, which he followed hard to the left of the Canadian goalkeeper.
The Canadians scored the first goal in the 40th minute with friendly fire.
In the second match of the same group, the score now points to a goalless draw between Croatia and Belgium.
The ‘Atlas Lions’ need only a draw to qualify, but their coach Walid Rekraki, who replaced Bosnian Wahid Halilodjic, who was sacked before the finals over disagreements with national team players, has asked his players to keep the “winning mentality”. We didn’t do anything, we didn’t qualify (at the final price) that we came from here for it.
Rekragui has revealed that his main goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, who retired at the last minute from the start of the match against Belgium due to a renewed injury suffered in the first match against Croatia, is ready to play.
The draw is also enough for Croatia, second in the last edition (historical milestone), to access the next round, against Belgium, third World Cup, Russia, which suffered a painful slap against Morocco 0-2.
On the other hand, Belgium’s “golden” generation is in danger, as they will seek victory against Croatia at the Ahmed Bin Ali stadium in Al-Rayyan, which will guarantee them access to the round of 16.
This generation have done well over the past six years, culminating in third place at Russia 2018, but Spain coach Roberto Martinez’s squad looked old and his beautiful attacking style of play has disappeared, in light of rumors of trouble within the corridors of the national .
And its veteran star, Eden Hazard, who is declining in level, pledged “eleven warriors” to face Croatia on Tuesday, noting that the Red Devils had “discussed” and calmed tensions after their defeat to Morocco.
“Our confidence isn’t as weak as people think. It’s true that we didn’t play well in the first two games, but we’re not in a crisis as some people write in the media,” full-back Timote Castagne said on Wednesday.