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Han River Harriers vs. Moroccan FC |
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Randal Smith The Moroccans are generally known for slick passing but in this game their toughness was on display. With stomachs empty after a day of Ramadan fasting, they put in a gritty performance taking over midfield to beat the Han River Harriers 3-2. Said, arguably the best player on the Moroccan team, was closely trailed by the Harrier¡¯s defense at all times and was prevented from scoring; nevertheless, as play-maker he was devastating, curling in dangerous crosses and working with Simon to provide stability to the Moroccan midfield. The Harriers¡¯ goals were products of breakaways and good marksmanship; however, their usually strong aerial game deserted them with many crosses headed out of touch. Another problem for the Harriers was a scarcity of effective through-balls for their strikers who were left stranded in the center of the pitch -- a situation partly due to the presence of a strong Moroccan midfield and party to generally sloppy passing. Short triangle passes came off well, but attempts to ¡°thread the needle¡± with passes down the center were invariably intercepted. The Harriers were left to making long crosses from the wings which would have been fine had their headers been more accurate. Although things ended amicably, early in the game there were several accusations of bias made against the referee who happened to be an injured Harrier team member. These accusations proved unfounded as the ref later called a penalty shot against his own team and in the dying minutes of the game sided with the Moroccans (along with the linesman, another Harrier!) that a ball that hit the crossbar and bounced down actually crossed the goal line. It was a highly controversial call, and considering the time remaining, both officials knew their decision would decide the match -- full credit to them for their honesty. If there can be any criticism of the Moroccan game it would probably be that they are too hard on themselves. Their bickering both with match officials and in particular between themselves can not be solely attributed to irritation over being hungry as they had a reputation for being argumentative well before Ramadan began. A good example of how this hurts them was their penalty miss in the third period. Under considerable pressure, the poor fellow shanked the ball well wide of the net. His team then rounded on him to the point he felt compelled to exit the game thereby leaving his team short-handed. It could very well have cost them the match. |
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