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“Being in this World Cup I take it as an award for my career”

Eduardo Domínguez put an end to a two-year stage in Mareo last summer. He confesses that he “did not expect” the opportunity to be in the World Cup. Walid Regragui opted for the physical trainer from Vigo to include him in his staff in the Moroccan team. The rest, literally, is history.

– Do you believe it?

-The bread is in the oven, as they say. As time goes by, we will realize the success that the Moroccan team has had in the World Cup: reaching the semifinals and leaving champion candidates along the way is a source of pride. It is the first time that Africa has reached a World Cup semi-final.

How was the reception in Morocco?

-It was incredible. From the airport that is in Salé to the center of Rabat, all the avenues were full of boys, girls, young people, women… Morocco is a very football-loving country. When the selection plays, it overturns. It was incredible. The image will remain on my retina throughout my life.

-A lot of emotion…

–There was a moment when you looked at the players and it was exciting. You saw a connection with people. When we said goodbye… It was very emotional.

–Achraf, Ziyech, Amrabat, Ounahi… They were planes.

–As a coach, I have had little time to improve the physical abilities of the players. That was brought as standard. In October and November I was very close to preparing the clubs; of the players who were participating less so that the physical trainers of the clubs could do complementary work. I did a lot of work with the physical trainers of the footballers who are in Europe. And of the injured: he spoke with the medical services and was on top. It is a work that is not seen. Those who played in European competition in October and November and came with a significant load of matches, had to do à la carte training. Together with Juan Solla, whom I brought for the championship, I had to do work to activate post-match recovery protocols. In the end we played every three days. There was hardly any time to train. And I did maintenance work on the twelve or thirteen players who didn’t participate. The coach gave them that desire to compete, to respect their rivals but not be afraid. We were a defensive block. The African players are talented, but they had to be given a powerful defensive structure, if they were solid.

–Did you know Regragui?

No, I didn’t know him. After leaving Gijón he was in Vigo and no longer counted on training. In mid-August, through Luis García Plaza, he told me that there would be a gap in the Moroccan team in the staff. They wanted a European in the physical preparation area. I established two or three contacts with Regragui. I explained to him from my point of view what had to be taken into account to prepare for a World Championship. There were other candidates. But when I had the interview he called me. I got to work at the end of August to prepare September well.

–He ended up having a bad time in his last stage in Gijón…

-Yes. She had one more year on her contract, but she felt the need to get out. Due to many circumstances last year I wore myself out a lot. He knew he didn’t have the energy to go back. I talked about it with Abelardo. He couldn’t give her what he wanted. I came to my house and after a month of being home this option arises: I have taken it as an award for my career. At work, at no time did we think we would reach the semifinals.

–And how was the feat conceived?

–Regragui was always clear that he wanted a team, not a national team. He convinced everyone to run: Achraf had just played for PSG and attacked 70% of the game. Here he convinced him that he had to defend. We passed the group stage, which was difficult with Croatia, Belgium and Canada. And we were first. Passing was a success. But we have Spain and… It was a tough match. They made us run. We were mentally prepared to run without the ball. Then Portugal, and in the semis with France we were left with a bittersweet taste: if we had been more successful in the areas we could have been in the final.

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