Canada Coach Warns Portugal of Morocco’s Defensive Strength Ahead of World Cup Quarterfinal

John Herdman highlighted the strengths of the Moroccan team, which has reached the quarter-finals for the first time in its history and will cross swords with Portugal this Wednesday. "They (the Moroccan players) have one of the best defenses in the world, not to mention the tournament," Herdman told the inews website. According to him, the Atlas Lions are very resilient and they have enough quality to shake up the best teams.

"When people told us that Morocco was the easiest match in the group, I shook my head after spotting them. [...] I knew it would be difficult to score against them. The four defenders and the goalkeeper have been as good as we’ve seen in the tournament collectively. [...] When they developed their game on our left side through Hakimi and Ziyech, I sometimes had my hands over my eyes," he acknowledged, believing that they have enormous quality and when they combine, "I think I’m right to say that 90% of their high xG [expected goals] come from this combination".

In addition to the talents of the Moroccan players, the other strength of the Moroccan team is the supporters present in the stadium. The latter turn each match played by the Atlas Lions in Qatar into a home game. "I was in the stadium playing against this Moroccan team and I’ve never felt such a crowd," the Canada team coach confided. It’s wild. From the very first second and the second your team touches the ball, you get the impression that there are 40,000 boos - and it stays that way for 90 minutes."

John Herdman is convinced that the Moroccan supporters will be even more mobilized for the Morocco-Portugal match. "Our players, you could see that we were shaken in the first 10 minutes and I’m sure it was the same for Spain as well. It will be very interesting to see how Portugal will cope."