Belgian media after a downer against Morocco: ‘Definite end of the great generation seems near’ | 2022 football world cup
Morocco’s victory over Belgium (0-2) causes a lot of loosening. Not only in the country itself, where people celebrate on the street. Also in Brussels, where riots broke out. What do the Moroccan media and the protagonists themselves think of the victory? And how do they view the loss in Belgium? An overview.
Zakaria Aboukhlal thought the duel with Belgium was ‘the most beautiful match of his life’. The creator of the 0-2 appeared euphorically at the NOS. “This is a dying dream. I can’t realize it yet,” said the former AZ player. ,,I felt it beforehand, I don’t know why. I am lying comfortably and everything went well today.”
He was a big question mark for this World Cup, because he was injured at his club Toulouse a week before the tournament. “I couldn’t accept to let this dream go. The club said recovery would take six weeks, but I have been working with my own doctor. It’s doing great. I trained for myself here for the first eight days. I am really grateful to the coach for not sending me back and for keeping my faith.”
Aboukhlal scores on indication from Hakim Ziyech. Ziyech, whose goal was canceled due to annoying offside, technically became man of the match. He thought that was unfair. “I don’t deserve this award. This is a team effort. Everyone was behind me, we did it together”, the playmaker recorded. “The public helped us. They supported us continuously and that gave us confidence.”
National coach Walid Regragui praised Ziyech. ,,Hakim is detailed, he brings more spirit to the team”, he said. “There is a lot of talk about Hakim, people say he is difficult and a bit crazy. He couldn’t contribute to the team. But if you give him love and trust, he will go through fire for you.”
Various Moroccan media were lyrical about Morocco’s achievements. So headlined Rue20: ‘The Lions of the Atlas kill The Red Devils in a dramatic match’. ,,Morocco put in a fantastic performance during the two halves and were more than equal to the Belgian team.”
“The Moroccan excellence had to be translated into a deserved superiority, which was also achieved thanks to a direct free fall of substitute Abdelhamid Sabiri, who acted with great intelligence,” writes Tanja24 about Morocco’s 0-1. Aboukhlal’s 0-2 and Ziyech’s action were not noticed by the medium.
At the largest newspaper in the country, LeMatin, well. ,,In stoppage time playmaker Ziyech received the ball at the edge of the penalty area. With a beautiful body feint he eliminated his opponent. The Chelsea winger served Aboukhlal – who asked no questions himself, but chased the ball into the top corner – nailing Thibaut Courtois to the cross.”
About the lead in group F: ,,The Lions of the Atlas have shown their teeth and they will defend first place against Canada with blood, sweat and tears on Thursday.”
In Belgium, the critics are not tender. “The end seems near,” headlines The last news. “While the Belgian failure against Canada was still masked by the result, underaged Red Devils went against Morocco with their bottoms exposed. The end of a great generation seems near.”
The newspaper hands out quite a few unsatisfactory marks to the Belgian players. Striker Michy Batshuayi got a three. “He played hide and seek for his teammates. They are still looking for him.” Star player Kevin de Bruyne also did not play his best game. The Manchester City midfielder received a four. ,,He guessed his defensive moves properly, but lost the ball 27 times. Well…”
,,What an uppercut, even Thibaut Courtois disappeared into the abyss with an error of judgment on the opening goal”, reports Sporzawhich also draws the same conclusion as HLN.
The newspapaer speaks of a ‘painful defeat’. “De Bruyne could not suppress his mark, Martinez’s act includes bills of exchange and Lukaku was not (yet) a red angel.” ,,Michy was Michy again”, the newspaper writes about Batshuayi. “And then you know. Often losing the ball, a lot of offside, injudicious. He is a goal getter, but in teamwork Batshuayi is a sleeper.”
View everything about the World Cup in Qatar herewith the latest news and the game schedule of Orange, the game schedule, the premium stories, columns, videos and podcasts.
| Schedule
watch here the full schedule in Qatar. View the special World Cup match center here!
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.