IT TOOK LESS than 10 minutes of this World Cup for Australia to show that France had their vulnerabilities.
Yet, by the end of that opening Group D game, the defending champions sent a reminder of their varied and clinical threats in the attacking third.
Being capable of finding a way – a goal by any means necessary – has come to define Didier Deschamps’ team.
All 11 during this tournament have been in open play, and while set-piece ingenuity hasn’t been forthcoming they have still shown their prowess in the air with five coming from crosses into the box.
And it’s not always the central focal point of the attack, Olivier Giroud, on the end of them. The well-timed midfield runs of Adrien Rabiot are a calling card, with Kylian Mbappe also showing he is adept at finding space in the six-yard box with clever runs across the face as well as bundled back-post tap ins.
Rewind to when Craig Goodwin scored for Australia in the ninth minute on 22 November. All it took to carve open the chance was one switch of play with a diagonal long ball to the right wing. A cut in and low ball to the far post led to a surprise opener.
Surely no team exposed so easily could have serious designs on defending their trophy?
Then came the reaction, France overturning the deficit just two minutes after the half hour mark before racking up a 4-1 score line with more than 25 minutes still to play.
The quartet of strikes set a tone for what was to come as they arrive at this point, the morning of their semi-final with Morocco.
There was Rabiot breaking into the box from midfield to get on the end of Lucas Hernandez’ floated pick-out.
The Juventus man then sensed blood when Australia dallied on the ball in the right back channel, putting the pressure on to force the turnover for Mbappe, whose clever first-time flick into Rabiot’s path allowed for a simple square ball for Giroud to tap into an empty net.
For France’s third of the game, the trouble this time came from the opposite side. Ousmane Dembele’s quick feet and composure bought the half-yard of space needed for a dinked cross, which Mbappe prodded home from the centre of the six-yard box.
It wasn’t until the fourth, when the PSG star opened up and raced by the helpless left back to tee up Giroud that the world got a glimpse of his USP.
Morocco may be the underdogs but manager Walid Regragui has moulded a side capable of conceding only once along this historic journey – and that was an own goal turned into his own net by Nayef Aguerd in a 2-1 win over Canada.
Croatia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal – four heavyweights given their respective credentials – all failed to penetrate a Moroccan defence that will now likely be shorn of Aguerd, Romain Saiss and Noussair Mazraoui due to injury.
That means Achraf Hakimi – already dealing with the prospect of a one-on-one duel with club teammate Mbappe – could be the only first-choice defender standing.
Whether he still is after 90 minutes will depend on whether it’s a triumph of another game plan executed to precision.
And France, as shown already, won’t hang around trying to hurt a team in just one way.
The quarter-final win over England on Saturday is fresh in the mind, Giroud’s bullet header from Antoine Griezmann’s pin-point cross proving decisive once Harry Kane blazed over from penalty spot.
Aurélien Tchouaméni’s powerful long-range strike early in the contest was the first one the French scored from outside the box in Qatar, and despite producing 117 crosses to date they are by no means one dimensional.
Morocco have attempted to defend in the middle of their own half rather than on their 18-yard-box, and while they have married that defensive structure with a coherent and slick counter attack, you still get the sense that this contest will be played on France’s terms.
The pace of Mbappe will, naturally, force Regragui to consider dropping deeper.
Yet, as he showed against Poland when they cruised to a 3-1 win, he is capable of dropping into a more traditional No.10 position to cause damage. That’s how he slipped in a clever through pass for Giroud to break the deadlock, producing a lovely finish that seemed as if he arched ever sinew of his body to complete.
Unlocking a stubborn, deep-lying defence could be when the impact of Griezmann, a revelation in a more central role with licence to drift (he has delivered 34 of those 117 crosses), proves decisive.
With three assists – only matched by Kane and Bruno Fernandes who have now departed – he is in line to finish with the most should he continued to create.
It feels an awfully long time ago now, but the 86th minute of France’s Group D game with Denmark should be at the forefront of Morocco’s mind.
With the game delicately poised at one apiece, substitute Kinglsey Coman, Griezmann and Mbappe combined. All it took was a simple pass into space from centre back Jules Kounde, who had all the time in the world on the half-way line.
With the Danish defence trying to squeeze the play by having their line in the middle of the half, Coman’s feint and sprint down the right channel was easily picked out by Kounde.
Despite the Danes stopping the cross, Griezmann was in support to take control and arrow a dangerous cross to the back where Mbappe had snuck in unmarked to bundle the ball home.
That’s what Morocco will be up against.
France are capable of the gritty and sublime to get the job done.
