Morocco weary, but not wilting as World Cup run continues Wednesday

When Wolves had one of the best defensive records in Europe last season and Romain Saiss seemed to be in the form of his life, Bruno Lage came up with a new nickname for an otherwise unheralded centre-back: “The Moroccan Maldini,” reports www.independent.co.uk.

It may turn out the former Wolves manager was wrong. Because, for everything the great Paolo Maldini won, there was one medal he was missing. Lage should have picked another defensive great: the Moroccan Daniel Passarella, the Moroccan Franz Beckenbauer, the Moroccan Bobby Moore.

Because each was a World Cup-winning captain and now Saiss, currently of Besiktas, could join them. If one obstacle in his path is France, the country of his birth, another is the injury that meant he was stretchered off in the quarterfinal victory over Portugal. The immediate sense was to fear the 32-year-old’s tournament was over. Saiss hopes he may yet be able to face Les Bleus.

“I will try,” he said. “I don’t know. I will see and do some exams to see what kind of injury I have but I will try my best to be on the pitch. I hope it’s going to be OK but if I feel it’s too difficult I will not take any risk and put my team in trouble just to play the semi-final. But I will do everything to be there just as I did everything to be here for 55 minutes (against Portugal).”

Morocco withstood plenty of pressure in his absence, with the back-up centre-back partnership of Achraf Zari and Jawad El Yamiq holding firm against Portugal’s galaxy of gifted attackers. Morocco’s progress so far has been a triumph of spirit, as well as of organisation. If their first 11 have confounded expectations, the same is definitely true of the stand-ins.

“It showed the character and mentality of this team,” Saiss said.