Kolkata: The France-Morocco quarter-final is a number of things. It is a rematch from four years ago but one round earlier. A contest between club mates: Achraf Hakimi and France’s five from Paris St-Germain (PSG), Kylian Mbappe and his Real Madrid teammate Brahim Diaz. Between Ligue 1 players of which there are 13 across rosters. Between players born in the same country: of the 99 in this World Cup born in France, six are with Morocco.
And one few would have predicted when the World Cup began: a contest between midfield engines Adrien Rabiot and Ayyoub Bouaddi. They wear their hair long, are separated by 13 years and were born a little over 50km apart in France.
It was by shifting Michael Olise to the centre behind Mbappe that France clicked into gear. Like Ousmane Dembele at PSG, Olise has the freedom to roam. But if the shift has worked it is also because Rabiot, 31, provides Olise the defensive shield a flair player seeks. Rabiot and Olise are peas in a pod, the grease that keeps the wheels moving. As one half of the double pivot, Rabiot contributed to France averaging six final third regains after the group stage. He also had an assist and a pre-assist.
“Attackers and goalscorers are valued more than midfielders. There is no problem about that,” The Guardian has quoted him as saying. Such equanimity is not usually associated with Rabiot. He fought with Jonathan Rowe leading to both exiting Marseille and opted out of the 2018 World Cup squad because he didn’t want to be a standby.
Then, there was an angry exchange between his mother (also his agent) and Mbappe’s after France lost to Switzerland in the 2020 European championship. In that Round of 16 match, Rabiot played wing-back. Deschamps has also used him further up the pitch in a central position. For Juventus, Rabiot has also been a left winger but is usually a box-to-box midfielder.
If Max Allegri was a calming influence at Juventus, Didier Deschamps performs that role here. The former France midfielder, whose presence in the France line-up was important for Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Youri Djorkaeff and Robert Pires to shine, understands the role and has backed Rabiot after the fight with Rowe. Since 2020, only Mbappe and N’Golo Kante have played more than Rabiot for France.
Against Sweden, television cameras caught Kante on the bench. In appreciation for constantly motoring to intercept, tackle or block, France had a song for Kante in 2018.
For Rabio to have one, France will have to get past Bouaddi’s Morocco. Lille fans aside, the world noticed the 18-year-old student of physics and mathematics when he bossed the Brazil midfield. Tall and strong like Rabiot, Bouaddi completed 61 of his 66 attempted passes which was the most on either side after Brazil’s central defenders. The difference with Gabriel and Marquinhos was that 30 of those were in the opposition half.
Bouaddi also had the most touches (88) and most successful duels (11). In the 87th minute, even before he had received the ball from Chadi Riad near Morocco’s penalty box, Bouaddi applauded his teammate for thinking of the pass.
“We know what a player he is. We were sure and certain that he’d have a big match,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi after the 1-1 draw.
Under Ouahbi, who convinced Bouaddi to switch nationalities, Morocco have more possession. Key to that is Bouaddi’s ability to keep the ball under pressure near both boxes. Morocco beat France in the under-20 World Cup. Hopes of doing that at the senior level will hinge on a performance from Bouaddi.
