Walid Regragui (Corbel-Essonnes, 1975) has turned the concentration of the Moroccan selection into a big family. And he has done so, literally, by bringing the players’ family. The Moroccan coach asked the federation to take care of bringing the players’ fathers, wives and children. When he saw that they could not pay for everyone’s trip, he went so far as to offer to pay for other people’s travel himself, if necessary. His idea was to create a climate of brotherhood in a selection that did not arrive completely united. The move has worked well for him, as Morocco has become the first Arab team to reach the quarter-finals of a World Cup, and just the fourth African team to reach this far. Now, against Portugal, they will try to reach the semi-finals. No African team has ever achieved this.
Regragui, born in France, was a good defender. He played in First Division teams in France, such as Toulouse or Ajaccio cors, before trying his luck for two years at Racing de Santander. When he got there, he already spoke Spanish well, as his parents were born in Castillejos, a city right next to Ceuta, on the coast. The town, known as Fnideq in Arabic, was part of Spain until 1956, when much of northern Morocco ceased to be a Spanish protectorate. The Regraguis, like much of the population, knew Spanish, since the border with Ceuta is four steps away, which led them to live in the Spanish city, where they had relatives. The Regragui are one of those people who have been living between two continents, between different cultures, for decades. The parents left to look for work near Paris, but always returned to Castillejos on vacation. The ex-player started working as a coach after hanging up his boots and shone with Wydad de Casablanca in the Moroccan league, whom he made African champion this same year. Criticized by the local press for being too defensive, Regragui got away with it and won the most prized title of all, the European equivalent of the Champions League, defeating Egypt’s Al Ahly in the final. This success opened the doors to the national team.
Three months to prepare for the World Cup
But when Regragui was chosen three months before the World Cup, he found a team that was not very united. The big star of the team, Hakim Ziyech, he had been removed from the team by the previous coach, the Bosnian Vahid Halilhodžić. It had been this rodamon who had qualified Morocco for the World Cup, but his handling of the Ziyech case caused him to be dismissed a few months before the final phase. Regragui decided to call up Ziyech again, who was said to have refused to train and did not have a good attitude. It was found, however, that a large part of the Moroccan press did not take kindly to the fact that most of the selected players, starting with the coach, were born in Europe. His commitment was doubted and there was pressure for more players born in Morocco to go there. Players like Ziyech, born in the Netherlands, or captain Saiss, born in France, lived trapped: in Morocco they were considered not very Moroccan, in Europe not very European. They, on the other hand, lived this dual identity normally, like Regragui.
The selector defended them. And they thanked him. In addition, many of the players born in Morocco were the ones Regragui had trained at Wydad, people who believed in him. The group, therefore, came together very quickly thanks to a coach who knew perfectly the way of thinking of both players born in Europe and those born in Africa. In the three pre-tournament friendlies, Morocco did not concede a single goal. In the four matches of the World Cup, he has only received one, and it was in his own goal. In other words, no rival team has yet scored against Morocco in Regragui. Spain did not know how to do it even in the penalty shootout. In a match in which the stands were full of mothers, like that of Hakimi, the PSG player, who always says that he owes everything to his parents, who made a lot of sacrifices. The first reaction of many of the players, in fact, was to climb into the stands to hug their mothers, like Boufal.
“The strength of this team is the strength of our parents. In Europe nobody gives you anything, you have to work 12 hours, hard, to be able to offer a future to the children. Now they say that the players are an example for Moroccans and I celebrate that , but the parents who have worked hard are also an example,” said the footballer born in Getafe. Regragui wanted to have the players’ mothers especially close, to generate a positive, familiar atmosphere. And in some cases, as in her own case, it has meant that Fatima has for the first time seen live how her son has come a long way, thanks to the sacrifices she made.
