The drums of the Morocco ultras behind the goal suggested the outcome had been favourable. A high tempo rat-a-tat-tat broke out on the final whistle, at a tempo that echoed the energy of the north Africans’ performance as they took a point from the 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia in an engaging goalless draw.
Clearcut chances were limited at the Al Bayt stadium, but both goalkeepers had to make decisive interventions either side of half-time as first Nikola Vlasic then Azzedine Ounahi had a chance to open the scoring.
This was another fixture which offered the dissonant effect of a patchy crowd but a lusty atmosphere. The crowd of 59,407 was nearly 10,000 under capacity, according to official figures, but with the vast majority supporting Morocco there was a consistent, engaging noise. It seems likely that this equivalent to a home support helped the men in red give a high energy performance.
Morocco had the better of a first half of few chances, consistently unsettling Croatia with an effective press and midfield physicality. The Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri was a danger, stretching a Croatia backline that included the 33-year-old Dejan Lovren. In the centre of the field, Sofyan Amrabat was enjoying his engagement with Luka Modric, throwing his weight into every challenge.
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Beyond one smart Achraf Hakimi cross that eluded En-Nesyri’s forehead, however, Morocco did not create any clear openings and Croatia should have opened the scoring as half-time approached. A long-range pass from Modric forced Bono to charge to the edge of his box and punch clear ahead of Andrej Kramaric. Mateo Kovacic immediately recovered possession, however, and slipped the ball to the left and the full-back Borna Sosa whose low cross found Vlasic six yards out. The former Everton and West Ham man should have scored but somehow Bono got down quickly enough to save a low poke with his legs. Seconds later Modric had an opportunity to drive home from the edge of the box, only to flash his shot over the bar.
Zlatko Dalic replaced Vlasic with Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic at half-time and the game resumed in the manner it had finished. Within seconds of the restart Morocco had fashioned their first real chance of the game with Sofiane Boufal forcing Dominik Livakovic to parry the ball with a fierce drive, the ball dropped into the path of Ounahi, whose stooping header was on target but blocked by the keeper.
Immediately after that chance the ball ran up the other end and Hakimi was forced to turn a Josip Juranovic cross behind for a corner. The delivery from Modric was typically devilish and Bono had to get low again to push the ball away. Kovacic’s follow-up shot was then blocked by Amrabat before the ball was finally cleared. A flurry of substitutions followed, some because of injury as in the case of Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui, others to maintain the level of commitment as this early afternoon fixture played out in the heat. The tempo and rhythm was predictably disrupted, however, and as the game moved into its final stages it became clear that the two sides respected each other enough to be accepting of a draw. – Guardian
