USA vs Morocco Match Preview 🇲🇦🦁

With the World Cup in Qatar just six months away, Vahid Halilhodzic and his Atlas Lions travel across the pond to the United States for an enticing friendly match in Cincinnati, which should help to provide a good test for the Moroccan national team. Having been drawn with Canada in Group F, it will be interesting to see how Morocco match up with another team from CONCACAF.

The Squad

It wouldn't be a normal international break if there wasn't rumours flying around before a squad list is announced for possible players returning to the fold or new players getting a first call-up. There was even talk of Vahid losing his job but the Bosnian looks to have survived and will have the opportunity to manage this team in Qatar at the very least.

The obvious standout from the 28-man squad is the return of Noussair Mazraoui after a long period away. The recent Bayern Munich signing has settled his differences with Halilhodzic as has Amine Harit, who has enjoyed a successful loan spell at Marseille this season. One player who certainly won't be returning to the national team under the current head coach is Hakim Ziyech, who has reportedly refused reconciliation meetings with Halilhodzic. Other notable returnees include midfielder Adel Taarabt and forwards Soufiane Rahimi and Zakaria Aboukhlal.

There are several absentees from the squad due to injury. Sofiane Boufal, who has been a bright spark for Morocco in recent times, has suffered a long term injury and hopefully will be fit in time for the World Cup. Imran Louza has had minor knee surgery so will also be missing. Ryan Mmaee is another big miss through injury. The other notable omission is Abde Ezzalzouli, who is yet to make his senior debut for the national side after arriving at the last camp with an injury.

What's the setup?

A staple of Vahid Halilhodzic's reign at Morocco is the lack of clear philosophy and style of play, which is a major difference between him and his predecessor Herve Renard. It was seen as recently as the World Cup play-off with DR Congo as the Bosnian opted to play a 5-3-2 in both legs to limit the danger of the Congolese counter-attack. Ultimately, the decision was justified with Morocco tearing them apart in the second leg in Casablanca.

However, we have also seen where this pragmatism doesn't work and the AFCON quarter final with Egypt is a prime example. Despite scoring early, the Atlas Lions were unable to grasp any control on the game due to the personnel that Vahid selected and the tactics he deployed. The players couldn't complete two or three passes before losing possession and really struggled to create anything from open play, which has been a huge concern for much of his tenure.

Against USA, it will be interesting to see what tactical setup Halilhodzic goes with. The Stars and Stripes, managed by Gregg Berhalter, have a clear philosophy and will most likely start with a 4-3-3 and look to get full backs overlapping which can leave them open defensively. Vahid could look to stay compact and organised without the ball, invite the USA on and try to exploit the spaces when they win the ball back.

Predicted Starting XI

It's always difficult to predict what Halilhodzic will do given that it is only a friendly, but it would seem a bit of a waste if the team travel to Cincinnati but don't play with close to their strongest XI. Unfortunately, Noussair Mazraoui hasn't travelled with the squad due to a small injury.

The goalkeeper and defence pretty much pick themselves at the moment, especially in a back four. Mainstay Sofyan Amrabat should anchor the midfield, but who is next to him will be interesting. The expectation would be that Azzedine Ounahi and Selim Amallah would keep their places after impressing against DR Congo. However, Aymen Barkok and Adel Taarabt are other options that the Bosnian may favour for this specific fixture.

The attacking positions are also tough to predict because Vahid could look to use two strikers with a number 10 in behind, or go with two wingers with one central striker. After the brilliant performance in the last match, it would be great to see Tarik Tissoudali and Ayoub El Kaabi continue their partnership up front; both players have continued their good form with their respective clubs since the play off games in March. The final player needs to be able to create for the two strikers and the returning Amine Harit could be the man to do that.

Prediction

With the expectation that Halilhodzic goes with a strong starting XI, this will be a closely-fought encounter, with Morocco edging it 2-1.