Football
Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondent 6y

Spain must be 'very much awake' against Morocco, says Fernando Hierro

KALININGRAD, Russia -- Spain manager Fernando Hierro says his side can't afford to relax when it takes on a Morocco side that has already been eliminated from the tournament.

Spain will enter the day tied with Portugal atop Group B, with both teams having secured four points from their first two matches. Iran remain in the running to progress to the knockout stages having earned three points.

"Basically if they qualified for a World Cup we know they will be a tough rival," said Hierro about Morocco. "Sometimes people might relax in the third match, but we can't afford to relax. We need to be very much awake, with our eyes very much open, and we're aware that Morocco isn't going to give anything away. Anything that we win will be won through hard work and effort. But they deserve all our respect because it's a great team Morocco."

The fact that Morocco has nothing to play for but pride complicates matters for Spain. Will Morocco manager Herve Renard give playing time to the team's usual reserves, or will he go for it with his usual first-choice lineup? Hierro says he isn't even going to try to predict what Renard will do.


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"Our obligation is to play a good game, to get three points and if we can be ahead of the group all the better," he said with the help of a translator. "We know that it's going to be a tough match and always when we're playing against teams that are eliminated we don't' know what they're going to do. We can't get into the coach's head; we're not sure how they're going to play tomorrow. It could be a big surprise and we can't take anything for granted. We have to trust in our skills, our qualities, and that's what's more important ahead of tomorrow's match."

Morocco have played some impressive football at the tournament, and are somewhat unlucky to have two defeats. They lost to Iran on an own goal in stoppage time, and they gave Portugal all they could handle in a 1-0 defeat.

"I think [Morocco's] level of play deserved more," said Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets with the help of a translator. "It's hard to win these matches at this World Cup, the playing field is very level, and that's why they have no points and a great level of play."

It was suggested during the news conference that Spain counter Morocco's impressive midfield play by inserting "more muscle" into their own midfield. Hierro said Spain would stick to their style, one that has kept them among the elite teams in the world.

"If we have to put in more muscle, I think we would be playing a different sort of football," he said. "We have much more to offer than muscle. We have other qualities. We do have physical strength, but we also have our vision for football, and I think muscle is not really our style."

Hierro added that his side won't be concerning themselves with the group's other match in which Portugal will face Iran at the Mordovia Arena in Saransk.

"We already have hands quite full with what Morocco is going to do," he said. "We also need to work on the mental aspect of things, especially regarding motivation because mathematically we have not yet qualified for the next phase so we need to give match the importance it deserves."

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