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Rabat – Portugal’s head coach Fernando Santos appears to have a lot of admiration for Morocco’s Atlas Lions, with the pragmatic Portuguese tactician particularly hailing the Moroccan Atlas Lions’ sense of “self-sacrifice.”
In a pre-match press conference, Santos acknowledged that his team’s quarter-final match against Morocco tomorrow will be “very difficult.”
Commending the Atlas Lions’ eye-catching performances at the Qatar World Cup, Santos emphasized that Morocco has a team with a “lot of talent.”
“We have seen how they play and have noted their sense of self-sacrifice,” he said, stressing his team’s determination to do its best to move to the semi-finals.
Santos’s comments come as the Moroccan team’s impressive displays at the World Cup continues to win them plaudits across the world.
In addition to their national team’s increasing base of supporters in Africa, the Arab world, and beyond, thousands of Moroccans have reported to have traveled to Qatar to see the Atlas Lions play their first-ever match in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
In comments made since their historic win against Spain in the round of 16, Morocco’s head coach and his squad have made clear their determination to pull off yet another unexpected, historic win to qualify for the semi-finals.
Morocco is already the only Arab country to qualify to the World Cup’s quarter-finals. And victory against Santos’s Portugal would make Walid Regragui’s Morocco the first African team to reach the last 4 of the FIFA World Cup.
The Atlas Lions secured well-deserved qualification, topping their group after finishing the group stages unbeaten. They recorded a goalless draw in their opening group game with Croatia, before going on to beat Belgium 2-0 and Canada 2-1.
Mere hours now separate Moroccan football fans from what they hope will be another unlikely, uniquely uplifting triumph against a star-filled Portuguese team.
As Morocco prepares to take on Portugal on Saturday at 16:00 Moroccan time, the prevailing sentiment among neutrals appears to be that while Portugal is the favorite, another stroke of genius from Regragui’s team would not be a surprise.
“Morocco showed in the group stage that they are a serious team and everyone is awake to that now after they dumped Spain out,” the Guardian wrote in a recent world cup power-ranking article. “Shutting out Portugal on Saturday would top the lot and Morocco have a chance.”
