Cape Town - Morocco held Croatia to a 0-0 stalemate at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.
The North Africans will be more happy with the result. They claimed a valuable point against the 2018 World Cup runners-up and made them look very ordinary.
It was a valuable point for Walid Regragui’s side and also marked the first time that the Croatian’s failed to beat African opposition at the World Cup after having previously claimed victories over Nigeria and Cameroon.
The following are five things that we learnt from the game
Croatia lack speed
Both teams lacked a bit of finesse in the final third but notably Croatia’s lack of speed let them down and was on full display. Andrej Kramaric led the line for Croatia and struggled to pounce onto loose balls during the few opportunities that Croatia had.
Containing Modric poses problems to Croatia
One of the reasons that Morocco came away with the draw was because they successfully cut out supply to Modric. Overall, the 37-year-old did not have a bad game but he found himself dropping deeper to gain the ball rather than moving forward to orchestrate attacks.
This obviously was to the benefit of the Atlas Lions.
Gvardiol could be the next Croatian star
While Croatia had more ball possession, Morocco did have a few chances with Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi creating a few opportunities to snuff out the danger. Josko Gvardiol managed to contain several attacking passages of play from the Atlas Lions.
It was hard to tell that he is only 20-years-old judging by the maturity shown.
The group is wide open
With this game ending in a draw, both teams will still be confident of progressing to the last 16.
In the other game from this group, Belgium managed a 1-0 win over Canada despite being outplayed. The Red Devils are not looking to be at their best and both teams can fancy a point or even three against Roberto Martinez’s aging side.
Potential Noussair Mazraouni injury blow for Morocco
Mazraouni, who is a key player for the Atlas Lions had to be forced off due to a hip injury. He looked to be in some bad pain and Regragui will surely hope that he will be ready for the next game. If not, the North African side will be deprived of some quality.
@EshlinV