Scotland manager Steve Clarke said his team will not shy away from their underdog status when they face “real deal” Morocco in the World Cup.
The Scots, who are at the World Cup finals for the first time in 28 years, started their campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Haiti at Boston Stadium in Foxborough on Saturday.
If they manage to gain a point against Morocco, who themselves impressed in a 1-1 draw with Brazil in their opening Group C game, that would all but guarantee a place in the knockout stage.
Morocco are ranked sixth in the world while Scotland are 37th. Clarke knows his opponents are favourites, but added that is not exactly a bad thing.
“Against difficult opponents we have to be very good. We understand that. But sometimes the Scottish psyche and the Scottish mentality means we are a little bit more comfortable when we are the underdogs,” he said at the Boston Stadium.
“We were the favourites against Haiti and we found the game a struggle but we managed to win. This time we are the underdogs and sometimes Scotland prefer it that way.”
Clarke was under no illusion regarding the quality of his opponents.
“They (Morocco) are very talented, they are fantastic players. They have a good work ethic, they have power and pace. They have little bits of skill, they can open a game, they can create one v ones, they can beat you one v one.
“For me, Morocco are the real deal, a top side. As I keep saying, we have to be at our very, very best to compete.
“Any time you play a team that's inside the world's top 10 you know you are going to have to be good at what you do without the ball.
“You're going to have to be good at what you do with the ball. So we are under no illusions about the size of the task.
“Morocco are a really, really good side.”
Iran to lodge complaint
Iran plans to lodge a complaint with football's world governing body over travel restrictions its team is facing in the US at the World Cup.
The Iranian team have been forced to travel to and from their tournament base in Mexico for their three group games in the US.
American authorities have directed them to enter within 24 hours of a match and leave the same day, leading team coach Amir Ghalenoei to say Iran were the “most oppressed” team in the tournament.
“The Football Federation of Iran believes these restrictions are inconsistent with the principles of providing equal conditions for participating teams and may affect their technical preparation,” the federation said in a statement.
Ghalenoei said the disruption had hindered Iran during the 2-2 draw with New Zealand.
“Under the coaching staff's plan, the national team needed to travel to the host city two days before each match in order to achieve optimal technical and physical condition, and then return to their base the day after the match,” the federation said.
“However, for the opening match against New Zealand, this request was not approved.”
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