Thank you so much for joining me today as we get ready for what promises to be an absolutely rollercoaster night, kicking off in less than two hours now. Gosh. Scott Murray is on MBM duties for us tonight, and he says:
Lionel Messi wants to put those GOAT arguments to bed by single-handedly dragging Argentina, Maradona-style, to the top of the world. Luka Modrić, one of only two players to break the Messi-Ronaldo Ballon d’Or duopoly of the last 14 years, dreams of another masterclass in overachievement with four-million-strong Croatia. In a few hours, one of our 35 and 37-year-old superheroes will be smacked flush in the face with the realisation that their World Cup dream will almost certainly remain unfulfilled for eternity. Tears before bedtime are nailed on.
I will see you here again tomorrow for the news and buildup to France v Morocco. Until then, stay safe, and I hope you have a great time watching the match. Go and join Scott over here …
Jacob Steinberg is in Doha for the Guardian, and he has written this analysis ahead of tomorrow’s second semi-final, saying that France have mastered art of winning, but tireless Morocco will set new traps:
On Wednesday night France face a conundrum: how to breach opponents who will give them the ball and trust in the tournament’s best defence to hold firm. Morocco, the first African side to reach the semi-finals, stand in their way and are likely to take some budging. The underdogs will be roared on by thousands of supporters at Al Bayt Stadium, where a hostile atmosphere is bound to test the courage of the France players, and they are surely not going to open up now. Entertaining neutrals is not Morocco’s priority. They have played eight and a half hours of football, faced three penalties in their shootout win over Spain and still the only goal they have conceded came when Nayef Aguerd put the ball into his own net against Canada.
Patience, as the France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris acknowledged, is going to be key. Part of the problem for the world champions is that Morocco, supremely drilled by Walid Regragui, are effective. They will look to their brilliant right-back Achraf Hakimi to set aside his friendship with his Paris Saint-Germain clubmate Mbappé. There will be responsibility on the tireless Sofyan Amrabat to pin down Griezmann, who was so impressive against England, and Bono to perform more wonders in goal. They will be praying that Aguerd, Romain Saïss and Noussair Mazraoui are fit to play in defence, and that they are not too weary after beating Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
But Morocco, who topped a group containing Belgium and Croatia, will also look to lure France into a trap before springing forward on the break. As Lloris pointed out, they have a strong midfield and creative threats from Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal. Youssef En-Nesyri, who scored the winner against Portugal, is a dangerous runner up front. “They’re not just good in defence,” Deschamps warned. “They wouldn’t have reached the semis if they were just a defensive team.”
Read more here: Jacob Steinberg – France have mastered art of winning but tireless Morocco will set new traps
