July 2 (Reuters) - Canada's remarkable World Cup adventure has already secured their team a place in the country's sporting folklore and on Saturday they face Morocco, semi-finalists in 2022, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
Making only their third World Cup appearance, Canada have captured the imagination of a country more accustomed to celebrating ice hockey heroes than soccer stars.
Their talisman Alphonso Davies played his first minutes at the tournament in the round-of-32 victory over South Africa as a 75th-minute substitute and could start in Houston on Saturday.
The pressure that may have burdened Canada before the tournament has largely evaporated and no matter what result they get against Morocco, they have broken numerous records -- including earning their first World Cup point and winning their first game.
That sense of freedom may be one of their greatest assets.
"Preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare," coach Jesse Marsch said. "(But) we want to be here and we expect to be here. So we know that everybody's going to write us off, and in that is an opportunity."
Morocco, however, are unlikely to be swayed by sentiment.
LOFTIER AMBITIONS
If Canada have emerged as one of the tournament's feelgood stories, Morocco arrived with much loftier ambitions.
Four years ago in Qatar they became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, defeating heavyweights Spain and Portugal in their dream run to finish fourth.
Far from being satisfied with that groundbreaking achievement, the Atlas Lions have proved four years later that Qatar was no anomaly, drawing with Brazil to top their group before eliminating European heavyweights the Netherlands in the round of 32.
Organised, athletic and technically gifted, they have progressed through the competition with the confidence of a team who believe another deep run is possible.
Canada are playing in entirely new territory, fuelled by momentum and enthusiasm. Morocco's squad still contains many of the leaders from their run to the 2022 semi-finals, and that experience could prove decisive.
"If we get things wrong, we'll go home," Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbie said. "We need to ensure that we have all the tools and we're using the tools in our arsenal to go as far as we can."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond)
