Favourites,butPortugalknowit won’tbeeasy

KEY CLASH Morocco won 31 when the teams last met in the World Cup but Ronaldo will look to guide his country closer to the next round

The last time Portugal faced Morocco at the World Cup, they were stunned 3-1 and the African side topped a group that also included England and Poland before being ousted by West Germany in the round of 16. That was in 1986.

Ahead of their game against the same team at the Luzhniki Stadium here on Wednesday, Portugal will know that any slip-up could hamper their chances of topping the group after starting the campaign with a dramatic 3-3 draw against Spain.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hattrick helped the Fernando Santoscoached side earn a late draw in the Iberian derby and while Portugal were impressive for most parts of the game, they could make a few changes against Morocco. Bruno Fernandes had a less-than-impressive performance playing on the right flank against Spain. Against a Morocco side possessing tremendous pace on the wings, Santos could be tempted to try Joao Mario, who also boasts of strong defensive qualities.

Up front, Andre Silva has a strong chance of replacing Goncalo Guedes as Ronaldo’s strike partner. Guedes had an underwhelming outing against Spain, missing two chances with his side leading 2-0.

Despite being dropped from the starting line-up against Spain, Silva insisted on Monday that he would be the perfect man to partner Ronaldo after the duo had an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign.

Portugal might be the favourites against Morocco but Silva said his side wouldn’t be taking the 1976 African champions lightly.

“I think we are stronger than Morocco if we compare the two teams but I’m not saying the game will be easy for us,” Silva said.

“There are no favourites. Morocco have excellent players and the result of their game against Iran could have been different,” he said, referring to Morocco’s 0-1 opening loss to Iran where they had dominated the game but conceded an own-goal in the dying seconds.

Morocco’s finishing, however, is something that coach Herve Renard will be looking to improve against Portugal.

That may see forward Khalid

Boutaib take the place of Ayoub El Kaabi in the starting XI after the latter’s struggles against Iran.

“It’s the worst thing that could have happened in added time. But in a competition when there are three matches, as long as there are two matches there is always hope; whatever the opponent,” Renard had said after the defeat against Iran.

Renard will also have to deal with the possible absence of rightback Nordin Amrabat, who had suffered a concussion against Iran. Nabil Dirar, the first-choice right back, is also a major doubt and had missed the opening game.

Wingers Hakim Ziyech and Amine Harit were constant threats against Iran last Friday and Renard will hope the duo can trouble Portugal’s full-backs.