Spain is clear about it against Morocco: "We are not going to change"

The tension flies over the concentration of Spain in Qatar a few hours after their future in the World Cup is at stake in the round of 16 against Morocco.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
05 December 2022 Monday 22:36
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Spain is clear about it against Morocco: "We are not going to change"

The tension flies over the concentration of Spain in Qatar a few hours after their future in the World Cup is at stake in the round of 16 against Morocco. The echoes of the defeat against Japan are still reverberating through the Reds' headquarters, which accepted the blow, interpreting it as a wake-up call. That is, extracting the positive side. “Psychologically I am perfect, in my line. And I see the players the same way. We have made a more in-depth analysis of the entire group stage and of the aspects to improve”, defended a guerrilla Luis Enrique on Monday.

With his usual sixth sense, the Asturian coach seems to have detected that the first doubts have arisen in the environment of the selection as a result of ten disastrous minutes against the Japanese and decided to try to tackle them by fast track. He forcefully answered some of the questions so that the message would reach the fans very clearly. "If a play gets complicated, of course you can hit a ball but that's the player's decision," he clarified about Unai Simón's failure in the first Japanese goal. But what is not worth is praising ourselves when we win and then criticizing ourselves for the same thing when we lose. You have to buy the complete pack.

Luis Enrique's words confirm that Spain does not have the slightest intention of changing its wheels because of a puncture. "Our idea is what has brought us here, we are very clear about what we intend to do and we are not going to change", reiterated the Spaniard. Minutes before, sitting in the same chair in press room number one, another of the Doha Convention Center refrigerators, his colleague Walid Regragui, Moroccan coach, confirmed his speech without knowing it. "Spain always plays the same game, they could change their shirt and I would recognize them the same way," prophesied the former Racing de Santander player.

Spain is aware that it will act as a visitor at the Education City stadium. And not only because of his status as second in the group, a circumstance that will force him to play with one of his substitute uniforms –in this case with a blue shirt and white shorts–, but because the presence of Moroccan fans in the stands is expected to be massive. "Our fans could fill two stadiums," Regragui warned.

The Atlas lions have a responsibility that goes beyond football. They are the last African team left standing in the World Cup, also the last representative of the Arab world, which will accentuate their dominance in the stands. “If we hadn't dreamed of getting here when we were little, we wouldn't have made it. Africa has never won a World Cup, why not instill this dream in the people?” The Moroccan coach wondered, aware that the round of 16 is the World Cup barrier for his country.

It will be a duel between two countries separated by just 14 kilometers, the width of the Strait of Gibraltar, and that maintain many ties. To start with, four Moroccan soccer players play in the Spanish league and two were even born in Spain: Munir (Melilla) and Achraf (Getafe). "It is a country that we feel close to and we like its football," said Regragui. "We have a good relationship, it will be a party," Luis Enrique replied.

On the green, the red will run into a rival that is not strange to them since in the last World Cup, played in Russia, both teams already measured their forces. A goal from Aspas in added time prevented the Spanish defeat. A memory that paid for the spectacular Moroccan journey in Qatar has the Spanish team on alert. A World Cup is at stake.