I am in awe of the sheer power of the Moroccan players. They play as if they can regrow their limbs. There is no team that would not suffer playing against them. The speed at which they attack is overwhelming; they just lack a touch of finesse.

The only teams they remind me of are the classic Italian teams. The Maldini and Gattuso years. But there is more of a controlled aggression, a patience, to the way they time their tackles, even though they defend more on the front foot in the middle third. It’s so smart the way they allow passing lanes to open and arrive into the tackle when the pass arrives, rather than blocking every pass. Bait the passes you want, as the South Americans would do, but in a different way, where the passes they bait are in areas where multiple players can converge on the ball.

They don’t need an Andrea Pirlo. A Pirlo is always nice to have, of course. All they need is someone to play the simple, accurate, and necessary passes forward when they regain possession. They have it in Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is great at controlling the tempo. That’s all they need.

It’s not just him. Collectively, the players complement each other well. Against the Netherlands, Morocco completed 801 passes, becoming only the second team after Spain to surpass the 800-pass mark in a World Cup match since Opta began recording the data. They have control of the middle third, and they have pace on the wings from the fullbacks, Hakimi and Mazraoui. The only thing they lack is someone in the center-forward position to take advantage of all the chances they create from turnovers. They need their own version of Francesco Totti.

Totti was never built on pure speed. He was a strong player. He had a world-class first touch and a strong, powerful shot, but he knew when to use finesse. The trademark chip is an example of this as an act of deception.

The Moroccan forwards have lacked the proper decision-making to finesse a shot, and Ismael Saibari’s first touch has been lacking. The fullbacks and the forwards try to rip the laces off the ball with every shot. It’s hard to go from a hundred miles per hour on the counter to a simple pass into the net, but that is what is necessary most times they get in front of goal. They could have scored three to four goals from open play against the Netherlands if they had demonstrated a bit more control with their shots.

An African nation has never been as close as Morocco to the level needed to win a World Cup. The hardest team Brazil and the Netherlands could face in this tournament was Morocco. The same will be true for Canada, France, and whoever they face if they advance further.

The Netherlands did a better job than I thought they would passing out from the back because their movement was crisp and fast, unlike Brazil’s. And the one major difference was Denzel Dumfries coming in from the wing to clean up any loose balls that were played into the Netherlands’ front line. Portugal are the only team with that same type of threat from the fullback position in Nuno Mendes, but Portugal aren’t as organized or sharp in their passing as the Netherlands and are held back by a slow and aged Cristiano Ronaldo.

If Morocco pair that aggression with more finesse in the final third, the only teams that could outscore them are France, Brazil, or Argentina. Colombia is the only other team that could make the game interesting.

As hard as it is to do, I think you have to let Morocco have the ball and then counter with Mbappe, like the Netherlands countered with Summerville and Gakpo. That’s the easier path because then you get space. Counter with Mbappe and Dembele first, and then, later in the game, maybe someone like Jean-Philippe Mateta or Marcus Thuram can make a difference with their height, as Weghorst did for the Netherlands’ only goal. You need that height against Issa Diop and Chadi Riad to be able to knock the ball down because they are always going to time their aerial duels well.