Belgium seeks to seal the pass against Morocco

Win and convince. That is the double challenge that Belgium has this Sunday against Morocco. The team led by Roberto Martínez left doubts in its debut against Canada, suffered more than expected and ended up taking, yes, the three points thanks to a decisive intervention by Thibaut Courtois from the penalty spot in the final stretch. The second matchday against the Africans is an opportunity to put an end to doubts with one stroke of the pen and arrive with the homework done for the last match against Croatia, the a priori other bogeyman of the group.

“Canada was better than us, but we found a way to win. We have grown as a team”, assured Roberto Martínez after the difficult victory against Canada. That victory catapulted the Belgians to the lead but highlighted that the red devils still have a great margin for improvement if they want to reach the heights of Russia 2018, the World Cup in which they finished in third position. The first step for this improvement will be to prevail over a team that already in its debut showed signs of being a very difficult team to beat. Morocco stood up to Croatia with their weapons and got a tie that keeps them alive in the group and with the expectation of getting something positive again against Belgium and risking the pass on the last day against Canada.

That is the goal of a block in which everyone is aware of Achraf Hakimi’s physical condition. The Paris Saint Germain footballer suffered hamstring discomfort in his debut and is doubtful for a match in which Mazraoui will not be there for sure, with a bruised hip. Belgium, meanwhile, will have all the players from the first game except for Romelu Lukaku. The Inter Milan footballer continues with the process of recovering from the hamstring injury and is not expected to return until the third game against Croatia, a match in which Roberto Martínez’s men could not play anything if this Sunday they achieve the pass against Morocco.