Former England defender, Gary Neville says Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe will be the difference when France take on Morocco in the Semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Les Bleus (The Blues) of France will trade tackles with the Atlas Lions of Morocco on Wednesday, December 14 at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.
While speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast under the stable of Sky Sports, the former England international while praising Morocco also posited that the Atlas Lions might not be able to contain Paris Saint-Germain youngster, Mbappe.
Also Read – 2022 World Cup: Morocco Can Take On Any Team In The World –Regragui
“It’s remarkable what they [Morocco] have achieved against Spain and Portugal,” Neville said.
“I was thinking about how we used to defend deep with England at times, but when I’ve seen Morocco sit in, they’ve also tried to play out of the tight areas in the defensive third.
“It takes real courage to try to do that, and then they also do counter-attack. Generally, it’s the story of the tournament, and it wouldn’t surprise if they went and beat France.
“That said, Mbappe is the difference. I’m not sure Morocco will be able to handle him. They’ve got injuries as well and tough games, but it’s been one of the stories of the tournament.”
Mbappe has rippled the net five times and provided two assists in five games at Qatar 2022 and is the tournament’s leading goalscorer so far.
France triumphed 2-1 over the Three Lions of England in the Quarter-finals on December 10 at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Les Bleus were FIFA World Cup champions in France ’98 and Russia 2018.
By Toju Sote
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COMMENTS
Thats the error most people make when analysising games..France is not all about Mpape . They have many big stars in big clubs . The good news here for Africa is that Morroco can match France player for Player because they too have all their players playing in big clubs.That said the big advange Morocco have over France is that they have tested and proven having passed through threat posed by Spain, Croatia , Portugal and Beguim and came out unscathed. I mean they came out of these fearsome quartet in undefeated. I’m not sure if France will have come out unscathed if they were subjected to such a stern test. So going by experience I think Morroco has it more than France as far as this world cup is concerned because France hasn’t met any tough opponent since this tournaments started. In conclusion I see Morroco beating France Within 90mims to advance. Im four four two the dude who predicted Morroco to beat Portugal within 90mims and it came to pass. I see Morroco in the final.