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Spain still has a hurdle to take to secure a place in the knockout phase of the 2018 World Cup, but faces an opponent who has nothing to lose.
Spain faces Morocco, already eliminated in Kaliningrad, Russia, on Monday in the Group B final on both sides. After a draw against Portugal and a tight victory over Iran, Spain is in a good position to pass, but a mistake against Morocco could prevent the 2010 champions from advancing and would require the Using the result of the other simultaneous final between Iran and Portugal to avoid disaster.
Morocco played well and played well in both games, but missed the final touch, depriving Iran and Portugal of every opportunity in the event of a 1-0 defeat. Before he goes home, he will appear to play the role of the ultimate spoiler.
A wonderful start to the match showed that Morocco was not only there to catch up with the numbers, as a well-organized unit was looking to capitalize whenever Spanish players had their backs to the goal. But the game of possession of Spain was slowly developing as the match grew.
The first attempt came in the third minute when Isco looked for Andres Iniesta inside the area but Mounir Mohamedi picked up the ball easily. Spain continued to push, and in the fifth minute, she got her first corner, but Morocco held up well.
As Sofyan Amrabat and Sergio Ramos began to be physically tense, things suddenly got worse. Moments later, a mistake by Gerard Pique caught Khalid Boutaib with two feet in the air. The man from Barcelona was lucky to not receive a reservation.
In the 13th minute, however, Morocco took advantage of an error made by Andres Iniesta, his teammate Khalid Boutaib not paying his pass.
Moments later, however, Iniesta was redeemed with a great run on the left side and found Isco to crack it in the box. A perfect balloon from the ex-Barcelona star. A few minutes later, Boutaib was found open and facing David de Gea after a long throw, but the scorer of Man United made a smart block to deny the striker.
After the goal, Spain took more control over the match because more instinctive passes created in the last third caused a huge headache to his opponent. In the 36th minute, Fernando Hierro's team managed his fourth turn, but Sergio Busquets failed to meet the beautiful cross, and Morocco again escaped.
Stay tuned here for live updates and highlights of goals and key games throughout the match (refresh for the most recent updates).
For the other Group B match taking place simultaneously, check out Iran's updates against Portugal here.
Here are the queues for both teams:
Here are the alignments for both sides:
SPAIN
Goalkeepers: David De Gea (Manchester United), Pepe Reina (Naples), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao)
defenders: Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad ))
Environments: Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Saul Niguez (Madrid Atletico), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), David Silva (City of Manchester), Lucas Vazquez (Real) Madrid), Isco (Real Madrid)
Moving forward: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Rodrigo (Valencia), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
director: Fernando Hierro
MOROCCO
Goalkeepers: Mounir Mohamedi (Numancia), Yassine Bounou (Girona), Ahmad Reda Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tangier)
defenders: Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Manuel Da Costa (Basaksehir), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid), Hamza Mendyl (Lille)
Environments: Mbark Boussoufa (Al Jazeera), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen), Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray), Faycal Fajr (Getafe), Amine Harit (Schalke)
Moving forward: Khalid Boutaib (Malatyaspor), Aziz Bouhaddouz (St. Pauli), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Nordin Amrabat (Leganes), Mehdi Carcela (Standard Cork), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax), Youssef In Nesyri (Malaga)
director: Hervé Renard
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