International Football
France fret over Morocco threat, preparing for wall of noise in semi-final
France will go into Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against Morocco with the utmost respect for their giant-killing opponents as the defending champions prepare for a hostile reception from the Maghreb side’s supporters on Wednesday.
The French fans will be largely outnumbered by the Morocco supporters at the Al Bayt stadium and Les Bleus know that they will be jeered and whistled throughout.
“They’re benefiting from a huge support, I’ve seen this and my observers have told me about. We know it’s going to be extremely noisy, it’s part of the context and we’ll have to be ready for it,” France coach Didier Deschamps told a news conference on Tuesday.
“Good for them. We have to prepare for the game, but also for the environment of the game.”
Captain Hugo Lloris said: “We’re going to have to be ready for the noise”.
The backing of their fans has been giving Morocco, the first African side in the World Cup last four, extra energy as they beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their way to the semi-finals, but France will be ready.
“I admire and respect what they’ve done here, they owe nothing to chance, they finished top of their group,” said Lloris.
“They have a lot of qualities on and off the pitch, in terms of cohesion. The environment will be hostile but we’re getting ready, calmly. We’ll have to be ready to up our level one more time.”
Morocco play a very compact 4-1-4-1 and patience will be key for France, who hope to be the first team to score here against them, as the only time they conceded was through an own goal against Canada.
Their best element should be not forward Kylian Mbappe, who will be deprived of the space he craves, but attacker Antoine Griezmann with his ability to play between the lines.
“Here’s another game where he’d better be good. He’s got this capacity to change the face of the team, with his technical touch, and the fact that he enjoys a good tackle as much as a good pass,” said Deschamps, who expects France to enjoy possession.
Morocco have been very dangerous on the break and quick attacks, but this is precisely how France could hurt them as well.
“We want to have the ball to create danger, but you saw that in our game against Poland (in the last 16) they actually had it more than expected,” said Deschamps.
“We’re as good as Morocco on the break and on fast attacks. We won’t abandon possession, but when we will have the ball we’re going to have to make it count.”
The winner will face either Croatia or Argentina, who face each other later on Tuesday.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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