World Cup Now: Morocco continues to impress on big stage

Updated Dec 6, 2022 2:03 pm EST

Morocco and Spain put together a thrilling knockout match on Tuesday, with Morocco winning a penalty shootout, 3-0, and advancing to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup.

On the latest edition of "World Cup Now," DaMarcus Beasley and former USMNT players Jimmy Conrad and Sacha Kljestan gave their takeaways from Morocco's win and dissected the team's overall success to date.

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DaMarcus Beasley: Morocco's the real deal. You might not like their style of football and how they defend so deep and for so long, but you have to give them credit for what they do. They stick to their plan. They all work for each other. As Sacha said, they have to be hard to beat, and they are. They've been like this since the first game of this World Cup. They deserved this. They deserved this moment. They deserved this triumph they've gotten for their country, for themselves, for the people that show them love and support them. I can tell — and we all can see it — that it means so much to them to get to this next level, to beat Spain, to beat one of the giants in world football, and to do it on a world stage. What a moment for Morocco. This team coming into this World Cup, I was the most excited about watching because of how they play. When they do get the ball, when they do get chances to go for it and how much talent they have in that attacking third, so hats off to them.

Jimmy Conrad: I continue to shake my head at what they're capable of. They drew 0-0 with Croatia, who were the finalists in 2018. Then they beat Belgium, who was considered one of the favorites in this tournament, 2-0. Then they held on to beat a pretty plucky Canada, 2-1, to win their group, the first time an African nation has won their group in I don't know how many years; it's been a lot of years. They get into the knockout rounds. They play against a team in Spain that is considered to be one of the best and has a ton of talent, and they figured out how to do it. And I said before the game that my man of the match was going to be their manager Walid Regragui, and I think that proved to be true. He put together a formation and some tactics and a strategy in place that, okay, wasn't always pretty, but it was effective.

Sacha Kljestan: They're warriors today. I'm thinking about Amrabat on the field. This guy was making tackles, chasing down everybody. The two center backs were fantastic. They play in a defensive posture, but that's what works for them. That's their way to combat Spain. They don't mind Spain having the ball and making all these passes. They had the better chances in the game, and in the end their goalkeeper came up big in penalties. It might not have been very fun to watch for long stretches of the game, but at least they were able to create some chances.

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