It was an uninspiring win for Portugal in the end. A lucky one, Morocco will say. But dull and effective is how Fernando Santos likes it, it always has been.
The veteran coach will never be renowned for teams that dazzle and pop and he had publicly urged his team to have “intensity and focus” rather than dominance or style in this potential banana skin of a fixture with the Atlas Lions.
Santos was right to be wary of Herve Renard’s side, who may end up being one of the best-ever World Cup sides to go home with zero points if, as expected, they fall to Spain in Kaliningrad next week.
There will be those who point to this flat display and Morocco’s dominance of possession as evidence Portugal are not World Cup contenders but it may, in fact, be the opposite.