Africa Football Discussion Thread || Current discussion: African teams at Qatar.

[Majestic-milf]

Today is just all about Morocco, nobody saw it coming. Even on the group stages nobody talked about them, we were only talking about Cameroon and Senegal but today here we are cheering for Morocco.

They really did not only make Moroccans proud but the whole Africans. I wish them all the best to continue pushing hard and strong to the next game, with the energy they showed today I think it will be hard to break them that easy.

#UP #MOROCCO
#UP #Africa

[Magicalking]

Most African teams came to the World Cup with a first objective which is to pass the group stage. Then depends from nations, some will try to progress to the round of 8. After that things become very hard for them. Although many European nations have plenty of African players, like France, but African teams have a lower quality of players performance.. Making players progress faster and better isn't that easy

This has indeed being a real problem for the African Nations, just a few countries like Nigeria and maybe Ghana have a number of star players on their side. The rest are struggling with the few on their team which makes it difficult to compete against the European Nations in International competitions. If it can be made possible every player starting from the next generation should be playing for their original nationality, I believe that will raise the competition to a standard.

[Minor Miner]

Today is just all about Morocco, nobody saw it coming. Even on the group stages nobody talked about them, we were only talking about Cameroon and Senegal but today here we are cheering for Morocco.
They really did not only make Moroccans proud but the whole Africans. I wish them all the best to continue pushing hard and strong to the next game, with the energy they showed today I think it will be hard to break them that easy.

Morocco has done badly. They have now qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup. And more importantly, the Moroccan team qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating the European powerhouse Spain. It is a great honor for Morocco to win against a big team like Spain.

The defenders of the Moroccan team are playing very well in this World Cup. Morocco conceded just one goal in four World Cup matches. I would say the full credit for Morocco's World Cup achievement goes to their defenders. We have not seen such a good defense in this World Cup.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Congratulations to the Atlas Lions of Morocco for making Africa so proud...

I personally never expected Morocco to be the last African team in the world cup, but here they are, defeating Spain! The quarter finals will be tougher as it is looking like they will face Portugal who are currently leading by a goal against Switzerland.

Morocco has made African proud as the join the likes of Cameroon, Ghana, and Senegal to be among the only African teams to have passed the round of 16 to quarter finals. They did theirs in style as they're the only African team unbeaten upto this stage. They also broken records at the group stages as they became the first African team to lead a group and not loss any of their group stages match then get a combined point of 7 that no other African teams has been able to accomplished. Morocco are just on fire and come when they face Portugal, African will be behind them.

Can they beat Portugal, I doubt because from the way Portugal played yesterday, I saw a determination in them of wanting to win the world cup to put their name on the map and give their star players a world cup to end his amazing career. Morocco players has been amazing this world cup and so has others even though they have been eliminated, you can use the poll above to give your vote on who you think has been outstanding so far in this tournament (both players that are still playing or gone home).

[Zlantann]

Today is just all about Morocco, nobody saw it coming. Even on the group stages nobody talked about them, we were only talking about Cameroon and Senegal but today here we are cheering for Morocco.

They really did not only make Moroccans proud but the whole Africans. I wish them all the best to continue pushing hard and strong to the next game, with the energy they showed today I think it will be hard to break them that easy.

This victory is for Africa because critics would have justified their belief that Africa is still a developing nations when it comes to football. The beauty of their victory was that they played against a very formidable team. It is a beautiful experience to see my countrymen celebrate the victory of Morocco even when we see them as archrivals in the continental football space.

It would be very difficult for the Atlas Lions to defeat Portugal because of the quality of players and the tactical prowess and experience of coach Fernando Santos. This team had a resounding victory over Switzerland without the input of Ronaldo, which is a clear indication that they have some good players on the bench. But football sometimes is unpredictable and the group stage of this competition proved that fact. It is possible that Africa can have their first slot in the world cup through the Moroccan team.

[Agbe]

Morocco and Spain are sharing the same boundary. One can stay in Morocco and be seeing the lights at Spain in night. There are best of friends and neighbors. And now Morocco is the only Africa team that is left in world cup at Qatar 2022. Let God favour Morocco in this game so that Africa name will go far in the tournament. Spain is in control of the ball but Morocco is also attacking, each sides has gotten one Short on target. Morocco is playing well. And they just missed a chance in the process of crossing the ball. Morocco might win the match.

It is also my prayer for Morocco to win the match against Spain, but we must face the reality that Spain will be quite difficult to beat, considering that they have a lot of young capable and good players, but then, miracles do happen and if Saudi can beat Argentina in their opening match, then I believe it is possible for Morocco to beat Spain today, it is my wish but if I was betting, I would put my money on Spain, that just my honest truth.

The miracle had finally been done. I was over happy in the football hall. Morocco won Spain, this is real miracle. At least one of the African teams has gone to quarter final to represent the continent. Morocco is to play with Portugal in their next match. God will do it for us again.

[Oluwa-btc]

Today is just all about Morocco, nobody saw it coming. Even on the group stages nobody talked about them, we were only talking about Cameroon and Senegal but today here we are cheering for Morocco.

They really did not only make Moroccans proud but the whole Africans. I wish them all the best to continue pushing hard and strong to the next game, with the energy they showed today I think it will be hard to break them that easy.

#UP #MOROCCO
#UP #Africa

A win for Morocco is a win for all African, you'll should see me celebrating like I won the FIFA World Cup last night lol.
I actually saw a little bit of the win coming, early enough I predicted the game to go to a full time draw if not half time, immediately they qualified for the Round of sixteen. Cameroon left with a proud head even if they didn't make it to this level and I'll be expecting same from Morocco if they don't eventually win against Portuguese.

I'm having a personal beef for Spanish Coach, L Enrique, Like man dropped Thiago Alcantara for Gavi ? Sick in the head. Yeah, Youngins should be given a chance but you still need experience. And in term of penalties, I see a stats that says David De Gea has been a better penalty saver to the first shot stopper for Spanish side.

[S A KHAIR]

Morocco and Spain are sharing the same boundary. One can stay in Morocco and be seeing the lights at Spain in night. There are best of friends and neighbors. And now Morocco is the only Africa team that is left in world cup at Qatar 2022. Let God favour Morocco in this game so that Africa name will go far in the tournament. Spain is in control of the ball but Morocco is also attacking, each sides has gotten one Short on target. Morocco is playing well. And they just missed a chance in the process of crossing the ball. Morocco might win the match.

It is also my prayer for Morocco to win the match against Spain, but we must face the reality that Spain will be quite difficult to beat, considering that they have a lot of young capable and good players, but then, miracles do happen and if Saudi can beat Argentina in their opening match, then I believe it is possible for Morocco to beat Spain today, it is my wish but if I was betting, I would put my money on Spain, that just my honest truth.

The miracle had finally been done. I was over happy in the football hall. Morocco won Spain, this is real miracle. At least one of the African teams has gone to quarter final to represent the continent. Morocco is to play with Portugal in their next match. God will do it for us again.

It was completely unimaginable that Morocco would win against Luis Enrique's Spain. Spain is a strong team, against them Morocco also performed very well and won. And since they managed to defeat the mighty Spain, the Moroccan team has a chance to win against Portugal in the next match. For an African team to qualify for the quarter finals, it is indeed a great honor for Africa.

[Strongkored]

I see so many who are proud of what Morocco has achieved, this is indeed not the first African team to reach the quarterfinals, several other teams have done this, but what makes me quite curious is whether anyone was brave enough to bet on Morocco yesterday? to be honest i didn't do that just bet on over 2.5 too bad it didn't work. Congratulations to Africa, which still has one team playing in this World Cup.

[Docnaster]

I wholeheartedly congratulate the coach of Morocco. That man is well trained and intelligent, he knows every bit of things that he does and he studies the game very well and knows what to do at a particular time in the game.
I listened his interview where he said that the big problem with Africans in the World Cup is that they only aim to qualify from the group match that they don't have to win the World Cup but he has not only come to qualify from the group stage that he aims to win the World Cup. That very mindset of his has brought him this far and I wish him more success. If he can win Belgian, if you can win Spain, he can also win Portugal

[KTChampions]

OK, we will see. I hope my analysis turns out to be correct, because I do not just believe in Spain, but made a bet on them. And I would not call the Spanish national team inexperienced, there are many young players but also dinosaurs like Busquets. Perhaps this is the optimal combination for success. In general, I think that even if Spain has problems with defense, they can compensate for them with their line of attack, which looks very dangerous.

Well, what can I say? Morocco are doing what everyone expected them to do, and Spain are labouring more than I expected them to. Didn't actually take a bet as I thought odds were too poor, so a draw is what the Africans would have loved, even if both sides could have won it at the death. Now we got 30 more minutes of extra time, expect this to be incredibly dull or incredibly exciting. Now the World Cup is feeling a lot more familiar haha.

Unfortunately, my interlocutors were right. And despite the fact that this defeat cost me dearly (because of this, I was eliminated from that competition with 0.5 mbtc bets), I'm glad that shitty football was punished. I don't like Tiki Taka at all, but Spain was able to play even this shit very badly. If you want to make a million passes, then why take extra touches? Naturally, if you receive the ball, then work it under the foot and make pass with the third touch, the opponent will have time to block the zones and this is a very slow game. I don't know what Spain hoped for and I don't know why a brainless coach seeing that his plan wasn't working didn't try to change anything. The Spanish national team remains a team with one plan A. It's too little to win serious games.

[snipie]

I see so many who are proud of what Morocco has achieved, this is indeed not the first African team to reach the quarterfinals, several other teams have done this, but what makes me quite curious is whether anyone was brave enough to bet on Morocco yesterday? to be honest i didn't do that just bet on over 2.5 too bad it didn't work. Congratulations to Africa, which still has one team playing in this World Cup.

I assume there is some people who supported Morocco but definitely most people didn't expect to see them progressing this far.
Morocco isn't the first African team to achieve that but it is the first Arabic and northern African one doing so if I am not wrong. Besides, Morocco eliminated Belgium and Spain which isn't easy at all!
@OP, I suggest to add Bounou, the Moroccan goalkeeper in the poll. He was a key player to the progression of Morocco to the quarters.

[Ulven]

It's good to see an African team qualified for the quarter-finals. Morocco made a great effort that delighted all African fans.
I think no African team has qualified for the semi-finals in the history of football. But I wonder if Moroccan coach Walid Rekragui can achieve this dream against the Portuguese national team, which in turn would like to win this championship.

[Marykeller]

Unfortunately, my interlocutors were right. And despite the fact that this defeat cost me dearly (because of this, I was eliminated from that competition with 0.5 mbtc bets), I'm glad that shitty football was punished. I don't like Tiki Taka at all, but Spain was able to play even this shit very badly. If you want to make a million passes, then why take extra touches? Naturally, if you receive the ball, then work it under the foot and make pass with the third touch, the opponent will have time to block the zones and this is a very slow game. I don't know what Spain hoped for and I don't know why a brainless coach seeing that his plan wasn't working didn't try to change anything. The Spanish national team remains a team with one plan A. It's too little to win serious games.

Barcelona has the majority of Spain's players. If not tiki-taka, what do you expect from a team that features up to 6-7 players from Barcelona? Remember that the Barcelona of today is located in Spain. Don't get upset; it is how Spain plays "tiki-taka" football. They will continue to play that way until tomorrow, they can't switch from that strategy. Instead of attempting a shot at the goalpost, they would rather play passes around the field, take possession of the ball, and cross it, for their player to head or kick it in.

[Minor Miner]

It's good to see an African team qualified for the quarter-finals. Morocco made a great effort that delighted all African fans.
I think no African team has qualified for the semi-finals in the history of football. But I wonder if Moroccan coach Walid Rekragui can achieve this dream against the Portuguese national team, which in turn would like to win this championship.

Portugal's attack is strong. On the other hand, the Moroccan team is very tactical and their defense is very strong. And so the match will be very competitive. The strategy of the Moroccan team is very good. And their strong point is that they can counter attack very quickly. If Portugal's defenders are not alert, Morocco's players can only score from counter attacks. Portugal won 6-1 against Switzerland. If Portugal consider the Moroccan team too weak, they will be making a huge mistake.

[Lordhermes]

It's good to see an African team qualified for the quarter-finals. Morocco made a great effort that delighted all African fans.
I think no African team has qualified for the semi-finals in the history of football. But I wonder if Moroccan coach Walid Rekragui can achieve this dream against the Portuguese national team, which in turn would like to win this championship.

Portugal's attack is strong. On the other hand, the Moroccan team is very tactical and their defense is very strong. And so the match will be very competitive. The strategy of the Moroccan team is very good. And their strong point is that they can counter attack very quickly. If Portugal's defenders are not alert, Morocco's players can only score from counter attacks. Portugal won 6-1 against Switzerland. If Portugal consider the Moroccan team too weak, they will be making a huge mistake.

Morocco has undoubtedly surprised many of us; I didn't anticipate them to be at this level right now. The large African teams like Senegal and Cameroon were the ones I thought would go to the quarterfinals, but predictions in football are not always correct. Morocco is the only African team left in the quarterfinals today, where they will play Portugal, the title favorite. This is a significant barrier in their path to the semifinals. Even though Morocco are unable to make it to the semifinals, I believe they still represented Africa well. Portuguese team is too well-organized and powerful to defeat Moroccan team. I'm happy for Morocco.

[Franctoshi]

I really commend Moroccan team for that good performance in that match , making it the only African team that is left in the world cup compition, I really encourage other African brothers to work hard in the next world cup.  I keep wondering why the African teams are not doing so well when it comes to world cup compition, when we have good talented players from the African space playing in Champions League and other various compitions around the world. The Africans need work hard in order to change that narratives.

[KTChampions]

Unfortunately, my interlocutors were right. And despite the fact that this defeat cost me dearly (because of this, I was eliminated from that competition with 0.5 mbtc bets), I'm glad that shitty football was punished. I don't like Tiki Taka at all, but Spain was able to play even this shit very badly. If you want to make a million passes, then why take extra touches? Naturally, if you receive the ball, then work it under the foot and make pass with the third touch, the opponent will have time to block the zones and this is a very slow game. I don't know what Spain hoped for and I don't know why a brainless coach seeing that his plan wasn't working didn't try to change anything. The Spanish national team remains a team with one plan A. It's too little to win serious games.

Barcelona has the majority of Spain's players. If not tiki-taka, what do you expect from a team that features up to 6-7 players from Barcelona? Remember that the Barcelona of today is located in Spain. Don't get upset; it is how Spain plays "tiki-taka" football. They will continue to play that way until tomorrow, they can't switch from that strategy. Instead of attempting a shot at the goalpost, they would rather play passes around the field, take possession of the ball, and cross it, for their player to head or kick it in.

Tiki-taka can be dangerous - when a player in front (on the wing or in the middle) is in good position and getting the ball is trying to beat the last remaining defender to escalate the game as much as possible or shoot at goal. But it can also be crappy - when a player, instead of aggravating, makes a "reliable" pass back. Spain chose a crappy option and was deservedly punished.

[samcoin]

It's good to see an African team qualified for the quarter-finals. Morocco made a great effort that delighted all African fans.
I think no African team has qualified for the semi-finals in the history of football. But I wonder if Moroccan coach Walid Rekragui can achieve this dream against the Portuguese national team, which in turn would like to win this championship.

Portugal's attack is strong. On the other hand, the Moroccan team is very tactical and their defense is very strong. And so the match will be very competitive. The strategy of the Moroccan team is very good. And their strong point is that they can counter attack very quickly. If Portugal's defenders are not alert, Morocco's players can only score from counter attacks. Portugal won 6-1 against Switzerland. If Portugal consider the Moroccan team too weak, they will be making a huge mistake.

I agree that Moroccan players are highly committed in the field, but they might be in a physical fatigue state due to the nature and pressure of this tournament, some of Moroccan players played all previous matches in addition to an Extra time in the last match, actually those players are the most important players like Hakimi, Ziyech, and Amrabat. Personally, My heart goes with Morocco, but my brain says Portugal won't miss the chance as this generation of players looks to be motivated to go far in the competition.

[Ulven]

It's good to see an African team qualified for the quarter-finals. Morocco made a great effort that delighted all African fans.
I think no African team has qualified for the semi-finals in the history of football. But I wonder if Moroccan coach Walid Rekragui can achieve this dream against the Portuguese national team, which in turn would like to win this championship.

Portugal's attack is strong. On the other hand, the Moroccan team is very tactical and their defense is very strong. And so the match will be very competitive. The strategy of the Moroccan team is very good. And their strong point is that they can counter attack very quickly. If Portugal's defenders are not alert, Morocco's players can only score from counter attacks. Portugal won 6-1 against Switzerland. If Portugal consider the Moroccan team too weak, they will be making a huge mistake.

I agree that Moroccan players are highly committed in the field, but they might be in a physical fatigue state due to the nature and pressure of this tournament, some of Moroccan players played all previous matches in addition to an Extra time in the last match, actually those players are the most important players like Hakimi, Ziyech, and Amrabat. Personally, My heart goes with Morocco, but my brain says Portugal won't miss the chance as this generation of players looks to be motivated to go far in the competition.

It is true that the Portuguese national team is much better than the Moroccan national team on paper, but if the Moroccan national team is physically ready, I do not think that the Portuguese national team will be able to penetrate Morocco's defenses. That's why I think the fitness factor will be the decisive factor in this match.