FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) 鈥� France coach Didier Deschamps spent most of his news conference on Wednesday fielding questions about a multitude of off-field issues, from aimed at French star Kylian Mbapp茅, to officiating concerns, to his own future.
Meantime, authorities in France are preparing for unrest related to the Thursday’s quarterfinal clash with Morocco. Several thousand police officers are expected to be deployed across France after the 2022 World Cup semifinal between the North African nation and its former colonial ruler led to more than 250 arrests, many of them in Paris.
Even apart from those concerns, France-Morocco might be the most intriguing of the four quarterfinal matchups.
France beat Morocco 2-0 in the semifinals four years ago in Qatar. With a victory this time, France would continue its bid to become only the third country to reach the final of three successive World Cups, joining Germany and Brazil. Morocco was the first African team to make to a World Cup semifinal in 2022.
鈥淲e met them four years ago in the semifinal. They also played in the African final. It is a really great, excellent team with top-notch individuals. They鈥檙e not here to play. They鈥檙e there to win,鈥� Deschamps said. 鈥淭hey like to attack to score goals. We have to be ready.鈥�
Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said the Atlas Lions aren’t satisfied just getting back to this point of the tournament.
鈥淚 don’t like this feeling where we can say what we’ve done up until now is great and rest is bonus,鈥� Ouahbi said. 鈥淣o, the only bonus is to win the World Cup.鈥�
Midfielder Brahim Diaz said Morocco’s in the round of 16 was indicative of how the team needs to play.
鈥淭his is our mentality,鈥� Diaz said. 鈥淲e want to keep going. … Everybody wants to play in this type of game.鈥�
France’s Olise carries yellow card into quarterfinals
One of France’s key players may have to play with a little caution Thursday.
France’s appeal of midfielder Michael Olise鈥檚 yellow card during its was denied by FIFA on Wednesday.
鈥淲e received FIFA鈥檚 decision this morning that the yellow card was maintained,鈥� Deschamps said.
Ouahbi said Morocco won鈥檛 have midfielder Ismael Saibari, who left with a thigh injury against Canada.
If Olise were to receive another yellow card on Thursday, he would be suspended for the next game.
Olise was shown the yellow in the 97th minute following an altercation with Paraguay’s Mat铆as Galarza.
Galarza went to the ground during a skirmish between the players, though video replays only showed Olise grasping the Paraguayan鈥檚 jersey before he toppled to the grass.
The appeal came after U.S. President last week to FIFA president Gianni Infantino to make the case that U.S. striker Folarin Balogun should not have been suspended for Monday鈥檚 matchup with Belgium because of a red card in the Americans’ win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. and cleared Balogun to play.
The decision ultimately didn鈥檛 help the U.S., which was eliminated .
Deschamps and France try to ignore off-field controversies
On Monday, Mbapp茅 condemned racist comments made by a Paraguayan senator following the loss to France. Deschamps described his star player鈥檚 mood after the incident as focused.
鈥淜ylian is OK. Whatever happens, I don鈥檛 want to look back and think about it again. He鈥檚 a very strong guy mentally, physically. He鈥檚 just focused on tomorrow鈥檚 game,鈥� he said.
Officiating questions arose after three French players received three yellow cards during the ill-tempered game against Paraguay, which was shown only one postgame yellow.
But Deschamps said his concern was minimal.
鈥淚t is out of our control,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 trust the refereeing. … Some refereeing decisions may lead to discussions. It really depends on everyone鈥檚 opinion. Our opponent is Morocco, not the referee.鈥�
The 57-year-old Deschamps was also asked to ponder his own future; he plans to step down after the tournament. The captain of France鈥檚 1998 World Cup-winning squad has been its coach for the past 14 years and led France to the 2018 World Cup title.
鈥淭he last game could have been the last one,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n my head, with the technical staff, we want to win tomorrow. That鈥檚 the objective. In a football game there are many possibilities when it comes to tomorrow鈥檚 result. … I鈥檓 focused on the Moroccan team so we can win that game.鈥�
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AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.
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