Morocco caused the latest shock at a World Cup that has been full of surprises by beating Belgium 2-0. Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was at fault for the first goal, inexplicably allowing Abdel Hamid Sabiri's inswinging free-kick to beat him at his near post. Morocco capped a magnificent second-half display when Zakaria Aboukhlal fired Hakim Ziyech's cutback into the roof of the net in stoppage time. Gulf News football experts discuss the match and look ahead to tomorrow’s key fixtures.
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00:00Hello, you're watching Golf News Kicking Back. I'm joined by Sharm and Nick to talk about
00:13Day 8 of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where Morocco caused the latest shock of the tournament
00:20that has been full of surprises up until now. They beat Belgium by two goals to nil, thanks
00:25to goals by Abdulhamid Saberi and Zakaria Aboukalal. Now guys, look, Belgium were so
00:31disappointing yet again. They got to the semi-finals of the World Cup four years ago, but it really
00:37looks like that famous old golden generation of players like De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku,
00:43I mean, it looks like they're clearly at the end of the road now. They look nothing like
00:47the side that's supposed to be number two in the FIFA rankings, and they were made to
00:51look second best by Morocco, who are 20 places lower than them in those rankings. Now, Sharm,
00:56it was another very ponderous performance from Belgium, and they paid the price, didn't
01:02they?
01:03Very, very true. I mean, they were just sleepwalking through the match, actually, and they did
01:09nothing to justify that second ranking. And also, I think Kevin De Bruyne said that pretty
01:14much well ahead of the tournament that their best chance had passed four years ago, and
01:19I think he was bang on. Because what we saw here was a side devoid of energy. There's
01:27no spark in them, no passion in them, just going through the motions. And when they come
01:33across a side full of energy, something like Morocco, with the solid backing from… I
01:39mean, their support on the stands was amazing. So, when you come across a side like that,
01:46you just get steamrolled. And that's precisely what happened, actually. They were lucky to
01:50get away with a 2-0 win, actually. In fact, the margin should have been much more.
01:58Could have been. Nick, I mean, what went wrong with Belgium today? They were lucky against
02:03Canada in their first game, where they looked quite leggy and slow, and like Sharm said,
02:08you know, quite just off the boil. But today, they looked even worse. I mean, what's gone
02:12wrong with them?
02:14Well, credit to Morocco. They were strong and disciplined. And I think, you know, this
02:19is a World Cup of shocks. Maybe the lesser-known teams have got more players who are playing
02:26globally in the Premier League and everything. But, you know, and managers, they all look
02:32strong and fit, the players, and momentum is important. Remember, only two weeks ago,
02:38the Premier League was playing, so maybe there's not enough preparation. They just look like
02:43individuals, not a team, and their heads were down and everything. It was a real shock.
02:49There was no team spirit that is going to win the World Cup and do well. They were nowhere
02:55near their game.
02:56Yeah, there was absolutely none. It feels like Roberto Martinez just gets these players,
03:01top-class players, let's be fair, but it just looks like he just throws them together and
03:06he just hopes, you know, they'll just click and start to play. But they just didn't. But
03:11Tashan, Morocco, as Nick just said, were terrific. They were really good. They're sitting
03:15pretty joint-top now in Group F. They're going to be feeling really confident of getting
03:21to that last 16 now, aren't they?
03:23Very, very. And also, they have the momentum with them. And not just that there's a spark
03:28in them, they just want to do better. And when they go into the attack, you can see
03:33they're just throwing bodies into the attack. They just want to go and get it. So that kind
03:37of positive approach will take them far in the tournament, maybe at least till the round
03:42of 16.
03:43Yeah. But to Nick, Belgium's route to the last 16 is still open, but they're going to
03:49have to play a lot better when they face Croatia in their last game. Can they do it?
03:55They can. Courtois was disappointing, well at play for the first goal at the near post.
04:01Never what a goalie wants to do. But all the last games are going to get exciting and it'll
04:07come down to calculators. It'll come down to goal difference. Who knows? There are some
04:12great third games in a lot of groups, especially this one.
04:15Yeah, it should be really good. All right. We've just seen Croatia thrash Canada 4-1.
04:21Sham, I mean, Canada getting knocked out feels a little unjustified, considering how energetic
04:27they've been, how determined they've been playing. And they can leave the tournament
04:31with their heads held high, can't they?
04:34Yes. The first match, they did very well. In fact, they were unlucky to lose. But today,
04:39they were in the game for the first five, 15 minutes. After that, it was just Croatia
04:44all the way. Croatia were far more clinical. They were a lot more professional. And they
04:48just showed them their place, actually.
04:51Yeah. Nick, I mean, facing Belgium and Croatia in their first World Cup in 36 years, it was
04:58never going to be easy for them. But to be honest, I think they were a lot better to
05:03watch than quite a number of teams. They've been exciting with their attacking football.
05:07Were you impressed with the way they've been playing in the last couple of games?
05:10Yeah, I thought the first game and the first half, I think they struggled the last half
05:16to lose 4-1 eventually. They ran out of steam or whatever. But they're ones to watch coming
05:22through and well done, Canada.
05:25Yeah, they took a great lead after just two minutes. Davies scored a thumping header.
05:31But Croatia, they showed their class and quality and in the end, ran out 4-1. Winners there
05:37at the moment, top of the group. But it could all change tonight. Unfortunately, we're not
05:40going to get to talk about the game. Spain's playing Germany at 11 o'clock. Everything
05:45could change there. We'll probably discuss that game tomorrow.
05:48But earlier in the day, Japan, who had caused that huge upset by beating Germany in their
05:54first match, they failed to take another step forward after Keisha Fuller's late goal in
06:00Costa Rica. What I think we can all agree was a smash and grab victory in that Group
06:05E match. Japan dominated that game again. They were on top. They played better. They're
06:09the only team looking like they were trying to push forward and trying to score some goals.
06:13Costa Rica were quite happy just to sit back. But then Fuller scored a lovely curling effort,
06:18which probably the keeper, Godo, should have saved. It looked like he dived a bit early.
06:21It looked a bit flat-footed and he unfortunately couldn't get there in time to tip it over.
06:27It means Japan have lost. Costa Rica, who had lost their first game 7-0, have suddenly
06:32got themselves back into the group. Now, Asham, following their shock win over Germany, did
06:38you expect Japan to do, at least to win today?
06:40Yes, I thought so. I thought Japan would win simply because if you look at the match, Costa
06:46Rica lose the match 7-0 and Japan has a rousing win against actually a giant killing act.
06:53So you would think the momentum is with them. But Costa Rica came back in the match to salvage
07:00some pride and they did. And if you could look at the way they played, they played with
07:06five defenders at the back, which means they didn't want to concede anything more. In fact,
07:13they scored against the run of play. So I actually expected Japan to win and I was sad
07:20to see that they lost. Not just that, it throws a lifeline to Germany now.
07:26Definitely does. It definitely does do that. They needed that result, so they've got that.
07:31But now they'll have to make sure they get their own result tonight. But Tanik, that
07:35was Costa Rica's first shot on target at the World Cup. And in the end, that's all they
07:40needed. They only needed that one goal to beat Japanese.
07:44Well done. And it just shows you really that any team can beat any team apart from perhaps
07:53the few at the elite with so many shocks to today. And it got a slight deflection, maybe
08:00the goal by Fuller, but it was enough for another shock of the day.
08:06All right. Yeah, indeed. Another shock of the day. Tomorrow, there could be more shocks.
08:11We've got four more games. Brazil's playing Switzerland. Now, Switzerland will be pleased
08:16with that win over Cameroon, but they look to be quite an average team. Brazil won't
08:22be having Neymar up front. He's injured. We know that. He picked up that injury in the
08:26first game. His ankle was swollen like a balloon. But they've got Richarlison, who's got nine
08:30goals in his last seven games for Brazil. So with him leading the line and with Vinicius
08:35Junior-Sham, there's just way too much quality, surely, in that Brazilian team to have any
08:39trouble against Switzerland tomorrow, surely?
08:42Surely, they won't have any trouble against Switzerland because they have so much quality
08:48in attack. But what is something is Danilo's absence, more than Neymar, Danilo's absence
08:54is a bit worrying simply because they don't have a proper replacement there. And at the
08:59right back, that would be the only right back in the side is Danny Alves. Danny Alves, we
09:06know, is an aging warrior. So do you really want to put him there?
09:10He looks aged.
09:17So I don't think they want to put him there. But I also read that he might even put Miltau
09:24over there. He is supposed to be favouring Miltau for that position. And I hope Miltau
09:31feels that adequately until Danilo returns from injury.
09:37Nick, I mean, they're missing a couple of key players below that. But against Serbia,
09:41they took a while to get going. It was until Richarlison broke the deadlock with his first
09:45and got that lovely overhead kick, which secured the point. Do you think it could be another
09:49struggle tomorrow against the Swiss?
09:51No, Brazil all the way. Brazil, for my mind, are going to be there at the sharp end, the
09:58business end of the tournament in a few weeks. And they've got strength in depth. No worries.
10:04Watch Brazil.
10:06Yeah, I think we all agree Brazil should cruise through that one, probably win all three games.
10:10The other one tomorrow to look out for is Portugal against Uruguay. Now, obviously,
10:14we know what's been going on with Portugal. Ronaldo has been dominating the news. And
10:17in that last game, he won that penalty, scored the penalty as well. But do you know what?
10:23If he keeps diving around like he does, he's going to get quite a few penalties, isn't
10:26he? Nick, I know you're quite annoyed with the penalty decisions being given at the moment,
10:29very soft decisions for quite a lot of them. Do you think Ronaldo could be up to his old
10:34tricks and could that determine the game tomorrow?
10:37Well, we'll see. I hope not. I'm not that impressed with some of the VAR and the penalties
10:48and those that are given for the wrestling in the box and those that are given for hardly
10:52a tap on the ankle. But let's hope football comes through rather than VAR and the odd
10:57penalty decision that seems a bit unfair. There have been a lot. Is it a dozen so far?
11:02It's certainly over 10. And we'll see. But let's hope football comes to the fore tomorrow
11:08with Portugal. And I see Portugal winning.
11:12Hopefully. I mean, Sean, these are two really good teams on paper, at least. You know, with
11:16the attacking qualities of Portugal and Uruguay, we know how good those squads both are. Are
11:21we? Could we be in for a goal fest tomorrow?
11:25Not really. I am calling Portugal-Uruguay a 1-1 draw.
11:29Ooh, a 1-1 draw.
11:31Yeah.
11:33All right. Well, let's see. The other two games tomorrow are South Korea against Ghana
11:36and Cameroon against Serbia. That's all from us for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow night
11:40to see how all those four matches go on. In the meantime, you know what to do. Head to
11:44golftunes.com for all the latest news and videos and reviews. Check us out on our social
11:48media as well. There's plenty of stuff going on over there. That's all from the guys and
11:52we shall see you tomorrow night.