Canadian national soccer team head coach Jesse Marsch is well aware his squad will need every edge available when they face Morocco in a round of 16 World Cup showdown in Houston on Saturday — and that includes determining the best way to deploy a recovering Alphonso Davies.
The Bayern Munich left-back, who serves as Canada’s captain, returned from a hamstring injury suffered in early May by playing the final 15 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over South Africa. In that brief appearance, Davies immediately made his presence felt, setting up Promise David for a shot that narrowly missed just outside the left post.
“I thought he had a good impact on the game and, more than anything, what you saw is that South Africa really respected him when he came in,” Marsch said. “So, we will be thinking about how to use Alphonso again in this game, whether from the start or off the bench.”
Davies, who has scored 15 goals in his international career with Canada, has achieved a level of global recognition that landed him on a special McDonald’s World Cup cup collection alongside soccer legends including David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Lamine Yamal, and Christian Pulisic.
Canada secured their first-ever knockout round victory when Stephen Eustaquio found the net in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to seal the win over South Africa.
Despite that milestone, Marsch is under no illusions about what awaits his team. Morocco currently sits sixth in the updated — though unofficial — FIFA world rankings, compared to Canada’s 30th position and South Africa’s 54th.
“Preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare,” Marsch said. “It’s like, I don’t want to watch them play. They’re too good.”
A major concern for Marsch is Morocco’s attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari, who found the back of the net in all three of his team’s group stage contests. Adding to the intrigue, it was announced Wednesday that Saibari will be joining Davies at Bayern Munich, arriving from PSV Eindhoven.
Morocco advanced to the round of 16 by defeating the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw in the round of 32. Following that victory, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi declared it was time for the world to pay attention to his squad.
“Morocco has gained everybody’s respect now,” Ouahbi said. “It’s not because of what we’ve said. We’ve now shown it.”
Ouahbi also spoke to the power of the support behind his players. “(The players) know that behind them there are millions and millions of people. We played when it was 2 in the morning in Morocco and we’re certain that most people stayed awake. That gives you the energy not to give up, to keep going and to believe in yourself.”
The two nations previously met in the final group stage match at the 2022 World Cup, with Morocco coming out on top 2-1. That tournament saw Morocco go on to eliminate Spain and Portugal, becoming the first African country ever to reach the semifinal round.
Still, Ouahbi acknowledged that knockout soccer is unpredictable. “Nobody can stop us if we play the football we know how to play,” he said. “But nobody is unbeatable. If we get things wrong, we’ll go home.”
The winner of Saturday’s Canada-Morocco match will face either France or Paraguay — who square off Saturday in Philadelphia — in the quarterfinals in Foxborough, Massachusetts on July 9.
