Canada coach Jesse Marsch knows his side will need every advantage it can get against Morocco in a round of 16 match in Houston on Saturday.
That includes figuring out how best to use captain Alphonso Davies coming off an injury.
The Bayern Munich left-back played the final 15 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 win over South Africa in his first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury in early May. He immediately set up Promise David for a shot just outside the left post and provided a boost to the Canadians.
“I thought he had a good impact on the game and, more than anything, what you saw is that South Africa really respected him when he came in,” Marsch said. “So, we will be thinking about how to use Alphonso again in this game, whether from the start or off the bench.”
Davies has 15 career goals for Canada and has reached a status that he is featured on a collection of McDonald’s World Cup cups with the likes of David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Lamine Yamal and Christian Pulisic.
Canada claimed their first knockout victory when Stephen Eustaquio scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time against South Africa.
But Marsch knows Morocco are on another level — and not just because Morocco rank sixth in the updated (but unofficial) FIFA world rankings compared to No. 54 South Africa. (Canada are 30th.)
“Preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare,” Marsch said. “It’s like, I don’t want to watch them play. They’re too good.”
His sleeplessness likely relates to trying to stop attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari, who scored in all three group stage matches. On Wednesday, it was announced he will move to Bayern Munich, joining Davies, from PSV Eindhoven.
After Morocco beat the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 tie in the round of 32, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said it’s time the world take notice.
“Morocco has gained everybody’s respect now,” he said. “It’s not because of what we’ve said. We’ve now shown it.
“(The players) know that behind them there are millions and millions of people. We played when it was 2 in the morning in Morocco and we’re certain that most people stayed awake. That gives you the energy not to give up, to keep going and to believe in yourself.”
The teams met in the final group stage match at the 2022 World Cup with Morocco prevailing 2-1. The Moroccans then downed Spain and Portugal to become the first African nation to reach the final four.
Ouahbi knows anything can happen in a knockout match.
“Nobody can stop us if we play the football we know how to play,” he said. “But nobody is unbeatable. If we get things wrong, we’ll go home.”
The winner will play France or Paraguay — who meet Saturday in Philadelphia — in the quarterfinals in Foxborough, Mass., on July 9.
