By Samuel Akpan
Morocco has suffered a massive blow ahead of Thursday’s World Cup quarter-final against France, with an in-form Ismael Saibari ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
The loss of the star midfielder severely dampens the Atlas Lions’ hopes of eclipsing their historic 2022 semi-final run.
Coach Mohamed Ouahbi confirmed the absence on Wednesday while insisting the rest of his players are fully ready for the last-eight tie at Gillette Stadium near Boston.
“Everyone is 100 percent fit except Saibari. This game comes too soon for him but I hope he is not out for the rest of the competition,” he told reporters.
The attacking midfielder had lit up the tournament, scoring in all three group games and converting the winning penalty in the shoot-out victory over the Netherlands in the last 32.
Saibari, who sealed a five-year move to Bayern Munich from PSV Eindhoven for a reported 50 million euros ($57 million), was forced off early during the 3-0 last-16 win against Canada last Saturday and has not recovered in time.
Soufiane Rahimi, an out-and-out striker, came on in his place and scored Morocco’s third goal that day.
The Atlas Lions are determined to avenge the 2-0 defeat they suffered against France in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, when they became the first African or Arab team to reach the last four.
Ouahbi dismissed any suggestion that reaching the quarter-finals already represents success for his team.
“We absolutely want to win the game tomorrow, so we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now. Tomorrow we will try get to the semi-finals. I don’t like this sentiment that we have already done well and anything else is a bonus,” the coach said.
He took over from Walid Regragui in March and watched the 2022 meeting on television as a fan.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz believes Morocco can compete with the highly fancied French side when he comes up against his club colleague Kylian Mbappe.
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