Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Olympic Games Men’s Football clash between Ukraine and Morocco, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Ukraine aim to bounce back from their Paris 2024 Olympics tournament-opening loss to Iraq when they face Morocco in a Group B match at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Saturday.
Ruslan Rotan‘s men could not hold on to their advantage in the loss and they face their North African opponents fresh off a controversial victory over Argentina on Wednesday.
Match preview
© Reuters
Despite dominating possession and having the game’s superior chances against Iraq, Ukraine somehow contrived to lose their Group B opener against Radhi Shenaishil‘s men.
This was despite Valentyn Rubchynskyi putting the European side ahead minutes into the second half, only for Rotan’s side to concede twice to Aymen Hussein and Ali Jasim Elaibi in minutes 57 and 75 to lose 2-1.
The upshot of conceding twice means Ukraine are bottom of Group B with Argentina, with Saturday’s opponents and Iraq three points ahead.
Losing significantly reduces the European nation’s prospects of making the last eight, especially if Iraq stun Argentina in the group’s other fixture.
While it remains to be seen if Javier Mascherano‘s men lose two on the trot, Rotan will hope his side respond to losing their advantage last time out and use that as motivation against Morocco.
The African side are still unsure as to what the heck happened in their wild tournament opener against Mascherano’s team.
A Soufiane Rahimi brace either side of the half-time break put Tarik Sektioui‘s men 2-0 ahead, only for Giuliano Simeone to halve the deficit in minute 68 before seemingly equalising deep into second-half stoppage time.
However, that goal was ruled out for offside after the match was suspended for almost two hours, causing controversy and angering Mascherano.
The Lions seek a quieter outing against their European opponents on Saturday, keen to notch maximum points to make it out of the group for the first time.
Previous appearances in the competition’s current guise in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2012 have ended in group-stage exits, which Sektioui’s side aim to halt this time.
Ukraine Olympic Games Men’s Football form:
Morocco Olympic Games Men’s Football form:
Team News
Maksym Bragaru was a livewire for Ukraine in their loss to Iraq, with the wide attacker’s directness posing problems before his withdrawal in the game’s final quarter.
Dmytro Kryskiv, who fashioned four chances in the Iraq game, hopes to showcase his quality against the North Africans.
Having seen Rahimi deliver the goods as one of the players older than 23, Morocco still have Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi to call upon.
Ilias Akhomach‘s participation is uncertain after going off injured in the African nation’s win over Argentina.
Ukraine possible starting lineup:
Fesyun; Krupskyi, Talovierov, Batagov, Martinyuk; Khlan, Rubchynskyi, Mykhailenko, Bragaru; Kryskiv, Sikan
Morocco possible starting lineup:
Mohamedi; Hakimi, El Azzouzi, Boukamir, El Ouahdi; Ezzalzouli, Targhalline, Richardson, Seghir; El Khannouss; Rahimi
We say: Ukraine 1-1 Morocco
Ukraine should feel hard done by to have come away with nothing in their loss to Iraq despite fashioning ample chances to have claimed a point.
They should share the spoils against a talented Morocco team on Saturday, which would see them head into the final group game still in with a shot of securing progress to the next round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.