Vinicius Junior turns on the style as Morocco show why they are no pushovers in entertaining clash
.jpeg)
Reading Time: 4min | Sun. 14.06.26. | 03:14
With Scotland and Haiti in the group, both sides will take the 1-1 result with confidence of making it out of the group
The New Jersey stadium in New York played host to the first blockbuster fixture of the tournament so far as Brazil played Morocco. A dominant first 30 minutes from Morocco , a stern reminder of world class quality by Vinicius Junior and a laboured second half saw Morocco deny Brazil an eighth win against African opposition at the World Cup. The 1-1 scoreline however saw Morocco continue an unwanted record of no win in their opening World Cup matches, with now 4 draws and 3 losses.
Download our MozzartSport App For More News
As Carlo Ancelloti stepped out to lead the most successful country in the tournament for the first time at a global stage. Unarguably one of the world football's most successful club managers, all eyes were on him as he came up against Mohamed Ouahbi who had succeeded legend Walid Regragoui.
Morocco started the match on the upper hand, evidenced by the early fouls committed on their wingers Brahim Diaz and Bilal El Khannous by both Brazilian fullbacks within the first three minutes.
Morocco looked to build on this momentum as Noussair Mazroui, playing at left-back then left his marker for dead for a cutback that found Neil El Aynaoui free but his shot was blocked by Bruno Guimaraes. Brazil looked rocked and could not seem to find a grip, with constant possession turnovers from their midfielders.
The early intent from the North Africans could be seen in the stats as in the first 12 minutes Morocco had 6 touches in opposition box while Brazil had none.
La Selecao, then , grew into the game and fashioned the most clear cut chance with Vinicius Junior beating Achraf Hakimi to cross for Igor Thiago who narrowly missed, showing early warning signs of the threat posed by Vinicius.
Morocco's moment of magic came from Brazil loosing possession , Mazroui then played in Diaz who spotted the run of Ismael Saibari and played him in to calmly chip past a hapless Allison for the opener.
After the hydration break Ancelotti made some structural changes seeing Raphinha move to the right, Vinicius now fully as a left winger and not a second striker and Paqueta as the attacking midfielder.
This now gave Brazil more threat and soon paid off as Vinicius had good interplay with Guimaraes before cutting in and shooting past Yassine Bounou with a ferocious curled strike.
Ancelloti's men now started pressing high, forcing Morrocco to go long and winning the first ball. Vinicius threat became even more clear as he now started creating room for Douglas Santos at left back to attack.
Santos exploits saw him cross for Paqueta whose audacious bicycle kick drew a save off Bonnou.
The second half began on a more measured note, Morocco seemed to sit off in a defensive structure, with them not putting pressure on the Brazilians in possession. Giving Ancelloti's men the onus to attack and see if they could break them down.
The first notable opening came Brazil's way after a quick throw in saw Igor Thiago played in but his hurried shot saw Bounou save easily.
Tactical fouls now became the order of the game with Diaz, Hakimi, Vinicius and Paqueta brought down to stifle attacks.
Ancelloti's changes seemed to bring in some renewed attacking intent for the Brazilians as Matheus Cunha and Zenit St.Petersburg man Luiz Henrique.
Good interplay on the right saw Guimaraes whip in a cross that narrowly evaded Raphinha in the box. The 5 time world champions continued to up the ante, in the 77th minute Cunha's ball in behind found Vinicius who cut it back for Raphinha who could only see his tame effort collected by Bounou.
With the half threatening to end without any shot at goal for the Atlas Lions, they drew a double save from Allison late on as a speculative shot from range from El Aynaoui and a second parry behind at the feet of Amaimouni-Echghouyab saw Brazil maintain the point.
Brazil turned on the style after their goal but will be worried with their first half performance while Morocco will pick the point and numerous positives.
WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE
First round
Thursday, 11.06.
Mexico - South Africa 2-0 (1-0)
/Quinones 9, Jimenez 67/
Friday, 12. 06.
South Korea - Czech Republic 2-1 (0-0)
/Hwang In Beom 67, Oh Hyeon-Gyu 80 - Krejci 59/
Canada - B&H 1-1 (0-1)
/Larin 78 - Lukic 21/
Saturday, 13.06.
USA - Paraguay 4-1 (3-0)
/Bobadilla 7 og, Balogun 31, 45+5, Reyna 90+8 - Mauricio 73/
Qatar - Switzerland 1-1 (0-1)
/Khoukhi 90+4 - Embolo 17 pen/
Brazil - Morocco
/ Vinicius, 42- Saibari 21/
Sunday, 14.06.
04.00: (6.80) Haiti (4.45) Scotland (1.47)
07.00: (4.50) Australia (3.50) Turkey (1.83)
20.00: (1.03) Germany (15.0) Curacao (50.0)
23.00: (2.10) Netherlands (3.45) Japan (3.50)
Monday, 15.06.
02.00: (3.60) Ivory Coast (2.90) Ecuador (2.30)
05.00: (2.00) Sweden (3.35) Tunisia (4.00)
19.00: (1.10) Spain (9.50) Cape Verde (27.0)
22.00: (1.70) Belgium (4.00) Egypt (4.75)
Tuesday 16.06.
01.00: (7.50) Saudi Arabia (4.20) Uruguay (1.47)
04.00: (1.95) Iran (3.35) N.Zealand (4.20)
22.00: (1.47) France (4.50) Senegal (6.75)
***odds are subject to change***