DISCUSSION: France vs. Morocco
Declan Link, Paul Schmidt-Troschke & Jon Bonfiglio come together to review the quarter final between tournament favorites France and new global footballing power Morocco.
1 SPEAKER_03: Hello everyone, welcome back to World Cup
Football, etc., on the day of France's 2-0 win over Morocco,
in which France rolled inexorably on into the
semifinals.
But in many ways, it was Morocco's absence, which was the
story of the time.
I am your host, John Bonfiglio, joining you from uh Mexico.
And uh joining me today, as always, is um Mr.
Definitely Norway, Paul Schmidt Troschka.
Hello, Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Hello, John.
SPEAKER_03: And uh joining us from Orlando is Mr.
Hopefully England, Declan Link.
Hello, Declan.
Yes, hello, John.
I hope you're doing well this evening.
I'm good, thank you.
All the better for speaking, having my daily dose of you, of
course, uh, which is becoming something I don't know, I don't
know if it's an upper, you know, in terms of drugs, people go for
uppers or downers.
I don't know which it is, but it's definitely something.
Um, Declan, onto the football.
We spoke yesterday of the opportunity for France Morocco
to be to sort of tactically innovate ahead of this match.
But did you ever expect Morocco to opt for the sort of the
equivalent of the hibernation tactic in order to see off
France?
SPEAKER_02: I think we said on uh the the four quarterfinals uh
predictions that we felt, and I think this was universal amongst
all of us, that Morocco's plan was going to be one of largely
containment and then try and get them on the counter rather than
ambition.
And uh in the first half, you know, France quite frankly
dominated without actually putting the ball in the back of
the net.
Obviously, Mbappé missed his penalty, but and then like great
players like Messi did, he bounced back and he scored a
goal later later on in the in the 60th minute.
So I think the game plan was such that um Morocco and this
probably s speaks to the fact that uh Ismail Sabari was ruled
out with the hamstring injury, um, so they didn't have him as a
as a creative attacking option.
And the other options they had just didn't really turn up
today.
Uh and it was uh it was really a very disappointing game,
arguably one of the worst games from an intrigue perspective of
the whole tournament so far.
Uh and Morocco will be very, very disappointed uh with the
way they played today because when all is said and done, you
know, France dominated in most areas uh except for possession,
where scarily Morocco beat them by a few percent.
But on every other uh angle, France were completely dominant,
and uh, you know, Mbappe looks like a completely different
level.
I had friends in the stadium and they were talking about every
time every time that he would get the ball and run or control
the ball and pass it off, there was an audible gasp within the
the uh the Boston Stadium.
So he we are witnessing one of the all-time greats there.
And again, with his goal today, and then Dembelli's goal, the
whole golden boot race continues uh and looks like it will do
right through to the final.
So also ultimately, you know, a fairly dominant display by
France, clinical in many respects.
They'll be very happy not giving the ball up, uh, sorry, giving
the goal up because they didn't have Morocco had very few shots,
whereas, you know, the the attack, the the um Moroccan
attack was you know generally very deficient, and overall they
were substandard compared to the French.
So disappointing game, but onwards we go.
We all got that prediction right, though.
SPEAKER_03: Well, we we we did, I think, to a large extent.
I mean, definitely we got the containment bit right.
It was the lack of ambition, I thought, that Morocco
demonstrated when they had the ball.
And as you say, with their possession, they had plenty of
the ball.
Sometimes statistics are misleading, of course.
Yeah, Morocco shaded France for for possession in the end, but I
thought an interesting sort of secondary statistic which tells
us a little bit about the game was the fact that for Morocco,
twice as many passes took place in their third, in their
defensive third, as France had in their defensive third.
So I think that sort of tells us a little bit about the intent as
well that the that the Moroccans uh that Moroccans had.
And and um, you know, I mean, sitting back and and holding
tight and sort of flooding the middle, um that there's a value
in that, but you can't sort of go through a game displaying as
little ambition, I think, as as Morocco did.
And I just wonder also whether you know some games, some
matches a team loses and that's it.
But then there are some matches which sort of um have uh almost
a sort of an ongoing repercussion.
And I think that the tame nature of this um sort of Moroccan
performance strikes me as um is something which could haunt uh
Morocco long into the future.
Paul, what was your take on the uh on the the game, the context,
and the end result?
SPEAKER_00: I think um uh as Declan said, the the fact that
Saibari was uh was missing um basically robbed uh robbed
Morocco of creating any uh any kind of dangerous chances um on
a more regular basis as they did.
I mean it's it's quite remarkable they had um only four
shots and one was on goal um versus the 21 shots by France
and eight on goal.
SPEAKER_03: Um yeah, just the XG.
Just the XG, just before you carry on, Paul there.
Yeah, yeah.
The XG, again, you know, arguably an overvalued means of
reading things, but in this game, France's XG was 3.04 and
Morocco's was 0.14.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, oh that that that that is that is amazing.
I think I've I've rarely seen such a such a low uh expected
goals um uh rate uh rate there.
And I mean, to me, the the the the the word which best
describes both teams um in this in this game is fatalistic.
France was just knowing they would go they would go through,
and they were playing like it.
And on the other side, there was a Morocco which knew we are not
going to go through against France, and we know that, and
that's how we play.
And also uh, apart from Saibari uh not being in the squad due to
injury, I think that um that the game plan Morocco applied here
was very similar to to how they approached past games.
Just you can't do that against against this French team, you
just can't.
And I I'm I'm not sure yet if it's actually due to the game
plan or just that France denies you doing anything else than
what Morocco did there, because I I I very much th think think
um that is that is more the more the case that actually Morocco
probably kind of gave their best, um, all things considered.
And what also uh struck me, uh struck me was how how deep or
how high France was standing into the um into the Moroccan
half, just constantly pressing, pressing, pressing.
I mean their their their um level of endurance of the French
of the French team is just incredible.
And um, and I mean then if you um if you if you have an Mbappé
who uh who got a little um problem or slight injury, I mean
I think you can't really call it an injury, but who had to be
subbed out, um probably more due to his will um than um due to
his abilities.
Uh and then then just uh you have a roster of players who who
basically um I mean they France could play with the second team
and they would probably still win against um against Morocco.
Uh and just amazing.
But on the other hand, other side, um one thing I have to
give to Morocco is that they were actually handling this
amount of pressure in their half really good.
There were almost no uh losses of balls or or uh missed passes
um due to the the French uh the French uh pressing uh there.
So very interesting that you had a very pressing team and a team
which could very well handle the pressure.
Um, of course, not the pressure of um uh of the tournament, the
game itself to win it, um, because that was definitely not
felt in any way uh on the Moroccan side.
And the the one of the most bizarre moments was when the
game ended for me, because then you had both teams there.
I I didn't see a single tear in in the Moroccans' eye.
You had them joking with their with their French teammates, the
club teammates, um, and uh everything was was extremely um
extremely peaceful, and it seemed that everybody was okay
how the game went.
Um and that was that was quite quite the bizarre moment there.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and undoubtedly there was um, I
mean, of course, there's a lot of um there's lots of overlap
between these sides historically, uh, where where
they come from, uh who they play for, and and uh and so on.
But it it was telling, I think, that yeah, the Moroccans just
seem to regard it almost as another game rather than a sort
of um um a defining match for uh for a nation.
Um just uh Declan, just as regards Mbappé, um the I mean he
definitely in a blue shirt, in a French shirt, he drives the team
in a way that I've rarely seen him do.
I mean in club football he sort of does occasionally, he he he
flickers on and off, but for the French team, the remarkable
thing is, and it's sort of reflected in in the golden boots
um race for this tournament, which we'll come to in a minute,
but it's just relentless.
It's every match, and um today he registered more than 10 uh
goal involvements in two consecutive tournaments, the
only player on record since 1966 to achieve that, and it is just
it's just ongoing.
And as you say, I think part of the excitement with Mbappé is
when he picks up the ball is that he is the um I mean the
whole team is great, is pretty uh, as we've said before,
generationally talented, but he clearly is the heartbeat at the
centre of it and he drives everything forward.
SPEAKER_02: It is extremely interesting how uh there is a
marked difference uh you know generally in his play with the
French national team and and with Real Madrid.
Uh, I've been fortunate to see him in Qatar play and in the
Euros in Germany, and he really is a special player.
It's going to be quite interesting to see whether or
not the global media uh between now and their next game, most
probably against Spain, uh, will be going on and on and on about
his fitness because it looked like he did pick up some type of
foot or ankle injury and he was icing it.
Um so we'll that would be worth watching.
But I also I also think um that they had an opportunity to make
some good subs there and save themselves, and they they didn't
look fatigued or tired.
That we know we were speculating that the Paraguay game would
have taken it out of them, but they were just a different level
today.
Um I it was it was quite interesting because I I didn't
think that Morocco sort of really had like a plan B today.
Uh once they went 2-0 down, um Brahim Diaz was obviously the
sort of main goal scoring threat throughout the game, and he was
substituted off and still only has zero still has zero goals to
his name in this tournament.
Um and what what I the commentary I was listening to,
it was really quite interesting to your point earlier on, John,
about the close connections with um with with France and Morocco,
because their young superstar kid, who is the second youngest
player to play in a World Cup after Pele, Ayyub Bouadi, was
actually the French under 21 captain not that long ago and
somehow switched over to the Moroccan national team because
it didn't look as though Didier Deschamps or uh any future
coaches were going to play him immediately.
So he made the decision to go to Morocco and they were loving it,
welcome him with open arms.
Uh, and he is a prodigious talent, even though he didn't
really show it today.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he um um uh one of the interesting things
about this whole campaign and um Didier Deschamps is the fact
that he is generally um, I mean, he's not completely unloved in
France, but there is a deep suspicion of him.
I think it goes back to his playing days, but there's a sort
of sense that um, if anything, he sort of stifles this French,
this uniquely talented French side, rather than sort of
letting them off the um the leash.
It'll be interesting to see what happens as France um continue
through through the tournament.
It is worth remembering that um also that this is France's third
successive World Cup semi-final, which is really statistically
completely unique, I think, in terms of um just continue uh
continued um top level performance under under
pressure.
Um, can we just talk about the golden boot a little bit?
Uh, with today's score, Mbappé is now uh he now overtakes Messi
because of his two assists.
So Messi and Mbappé uh uh both on eight uh goals for the for
the tournament.
You have Gahaland on seven and Harry Kane on six plus plus one
assist.
I I I don't remember um a World Cup or a Euros, I mean I may be
wrong with this, but in which there is this constant level of
performance from the top strikers, in which they just
keep taking things to a uh to another level.
And it seems, Paul, as though this this particular race, this
tournament within a tournament, is gonna go right down to the
final.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
Um and uh I also don't remember anything to that scale.
Um, I mean, even even considering the expanded form of
the tournament, uh, in in the last couple of World Cups, he
still had um had one more match to go.
And uh and already now, I think Thomas Miller, I remember him
winning the the golden boot in 2010 with six.
SPEAKER_03: Where was he born?
SPEAKER_00: Thomas Miller?
SPEAKER_03: Was he born in Istanbul?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course, uh as you can guess by his name.
Um he's uh he's a proper proper Turkish guy.
Uh no, born deep, deep in in the in the Bavarian mountain,
mountain science.
SPEAKER_03: Of course, of course, carried across the Swiss
Alps as a baby in order to register his birth in Bavaria.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and now now playing in Canada.
Um no, but but it's it's completely uh unprecedented,
especially that you have such a tight race up there.
And I think that that this uh as well speaks to how teams are
rest or have restructured in a way in regards to their
strategy, that it's now much more that these teams are much
more built around these these individual characters, and and
it actually works.
And I think that in the past you uh had lots of opportunities to
do to do the same with um with players, but it was not on vote
because um I don't know, no nobody tried it.
And and it also speaks a little bit for um um there's definitely
a parallel, uh kind of cultural or societal that um uh that
yeah, the the individualistic um tendencies we uh we experience
in our in in our western societies at least uh spill over
into football.
Um also yeah um surrounding single uh single exceptional um
characters.
I mean not exceptional on the field, of course.
And uh yeah, it's uh it's very interesting.
We uh we will only know who who actually will win it because
everybody has the chance, right?
I mean, whoever goes in uh goes to the final um can can still uh
score two or three goals as we have seen it on a on a regular
basis here.
And um yeah, would be uh would be great, I think, for for
Mbappé to uh if he still be able to actually um pass Messi in the
in the overall um score, which which is going to be a
challenge.
Um but I think that we we have not seen that um in at least a
couple of decades that you had two records being broken um in
in the same tournament.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's records being broken all the
time.
At the moment, whether it's uh sort of team records or or
individual striking records, it just seems as though continually
with every match a new record, a new record begins, which um
which presumably Defan is what you're busy typing away at in
the background.
Is um is you about to share all of these different records with
us?
SPEAKER_02: No, you know what I was trying to validate was I was
trying to validate whether or not Haaland had taken a penalty
at all, because uh Kane takes penalties, uh Messi takes
penalties, and Mbappe takes penalties, and I've I've I've
confirmed that uh Haaland hasn't scored any penalties, and I'm
gonna assume that he's gonna be their penalty taker, even though
he's going home on uh to Norway on on Saturday night.
So um it's interesting though, the character, like I mentioned
early on, because Messi missed the other day and then ended up
scoring a goal, and Bappy missed today.
Pretty poor penalty to be honest.
Terrible penalty, wasn't it?
Pretty terrible, yeah.
Pretty poor penalty, and um and then Kane, you know, is is is is
one of the most reliable penalty takers in the world.
Uh so that that's all that's all helping their individual uh
contributions, but I think it just goes to the central DNA of
these players, and don't count Dembelli out, because he's on
the he's on the shoulders in the background.
He's got he notched another one today as well.
Um, that they're gonna go right through to the end uh to try and
win that golden boot award, and and and us as fans can only
benefit from seeing that separate sideshow.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they're definitely driving driving each
other on.
Um and we'll see how it how it goes.
Of course, the the England-Norway game is pretty
crucial because one side is gonna go home there.
Um so that means that one of those two strikers at Harland or
Cain then loses the opportunity to for another two matches,
whereas of course, any side that goes through to the semi-finals
then has the semi-final and the final.
And uh there is still the third-fourth place playoff,
isn't there?
There is, yes.
SPEAKER_02: It's it's a it's the most boring game ever.
We me and Keith were able to see it in in Pasadena in 2004, and
it was Bulgaria and someone else.
And honestly, the players had all flown in from the east coast
and they were they were noticeably tipsy, noticeably
drunk, and it was just the biggest waste of time ever, but
at least it was another World Cup game.
So I personally think most of the most of the players, once
they get knocked out in the semi-finals, they just want to
go home to their respective countries.
They don't want to play a third and fourth place game.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, third-fourth is is largely i irrelevant,
really.
Um of course we've got uh Spain, Belgium coming up next, with uh
Paul Schmidroshka having said that Belgium is definitely gonna
win that one.
So we'll see what um what what takes place there.
I know you didn't quite say that, Paul.
I think you but uh but if if Belgium do win, you're the first
person that on this podcast is gonna say I told you so, even if
you didn't quite tell us so.
SPEAKER_00: Probably, yes, probably.
But I'm definitely gonna say Norway is gonna win against
England.
I'm I'm not getting tired of uh of doing this and poking poking
Decland and uh some some specific listener to our
podcast.
SPEAKER_02: I I I'm um I've always been impressed in the
years I've known you, PST, that uh your football knowledge is
bang on excellent, 10 out of 10.
But I think you're smoking some weird stuff at the moment down
there, so stop it.
SPEAKER_03: Well, on which note, uh, we don't advocate anything
illegal.
Of course, on the World Cup football, etc.
podcast, except for full out revolution that we can get
behind, especially if it involves uh uh uh yes, I was
gonna say doing some stuff to uh beef for President Jenny
Infantino, but no, let's not just removing him from office.
That's probably enough, isn't it?
As regards the all we need from uh from from a revolution.
But thanks, um thanks for the remote.
SPEAKER_02: John John interruption time.
I I I I actually and sadly uh most people I speak with, maybe
before to today's game with France and Rocco, which was very
poor, are actually looking at this World Cup as being the best
World Cup ever, which is very sad as it relates to the FIFA
executive team.
But I just wanted to share with you a fact I saw today on a news
source.
Um, so I do apologize for the uh for the interruption, but I
think this is quite interesting.
The Mexico-England game in the Azteca on Sunday night is the
most watched soccer game in the US in history, drawing 44.8
million viewers across the Fox Network and Telemundo.
So it's interesting, isn't it?
It's an interesting fact.
I think that generally the population, and a lot of that is
going to be expats from not only England and Mexico watching the
game, but expats from other different nations in the world.
But a decent percent is that going to be, is that gonna be
so-called American soccer fans?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I think there's definitely been a
thing with with in particular the Mexico venues in this
particular match, where because everything's been held in the
sort of relatively anodyne US football stadia and cities, that
this that match in particular had the real feet a real feel of
sort of an exotic fixture from yesteryear that um that sort of
came up and was um just it just felt completely.
I mean, you were there, of course, Declan, but it just felt
like it was a completely different match, almost that
didn't belong to this World Cup.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I I agree.
And it was uh listening to some of the England fans who are now
in Miami or they're back in the UK on different uh radio and
podcast outlets, you know, they're pinching themselves that
they were there.
The other question the other point I wanted to to raise,
because I'm sort of sick to death of all of the conspiracy
stuff and Trump getting involved with um the US forward uh and
all that, it was really good because the media were trying to
whip up a story about the all Argentine refereeing crew today.
And it it it would have been it it would have been a story if it
had been a much closer game.
So fortunately for all of us, that one was put to bed nice and
early.
That there was no favouritism because that goes back to the
animosity between the French and the Argentinians uh in in Doha
and other incidents over the years.
So uh that wasn't a story which was a big thumbs up.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's definitely no love lost between
Argentina and France, and I'm sure we'll we'll come to that in
in due course if they do meet further further down the way.
I these these interruptions they feel so genuine, whereas of
course we we fully script them and rehearse them ahead of time.
But your your timing on the interruptions, Declan, is is
really you know it's it's spot on.
It's um the timing of a sort of a theatre professional, your
interruptions.
It's choreographing.
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I practice, I've I've roll, I
roleplay with some of my friends because they listen and they
know intuitively what you're gonna say, when you're gonna
say, and when you're gonna hand the mic over to us, and when
you're gonna wrap everything up, John.
So I've learned to roleplay, um, make sure that uh I practice and
then I just go in there for the cure.
SPEAKER_03: The the less we know about your roleplay tendencies
in life, the better, Declan.
Um and on which note, no more interruptions, Paul.
That's it.
Good night.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, guys.
SPEAKER_02: Alvida's lane, and whatever that is in Norway.
So are you going home on Sunday?