On Saturday, Morocco held Ivory Coast to a draw (1-1) in Abidjan. A rather flattering score, while the Atlas Lions were heavily dominated during almost the entire match. In a post-match press conference, coach Walid Regragui delivered his self-criticism.
Clearly, Morocco has difficulty against the African selections. Saturday October 14, the Reds and Greens performed poorly in front of the Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire, hosts of the next CAN 2023. Sent back to the ropes for more than 80 minutes of play, Romain Saïss’s gang was miraculously came out with an unexpected draw.
This is the third post-World Cup poor performance for Walid Regragui and his men in four matches against an African team. Indeed, before their sad copy at Felicia in Abidjan, the Moroccans had been hooked by the Cap Vert (0-0)
on June 12 in Rabat, then defeated by South Africa (2-1) five days later in Johannesburg. Their only victory was obtained against the Burkina Faso (1-0) in September, in Lens, France.
A dynamic that looks bad after finishing fourth at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Especially since after the unprecedented semi-final, Walid Reagragui, buoyed by popular euphoria, set himself the non-negotiable objective of winning the CAN. Faced with journalists, Saturday evening after the draw, the former coach of Wydad Casablanca admitted to having come down from his cloud, given the reality on the ground.
Regragui apologizes to the Moroccan people
“I made a big mistake after the World Cup. I left with the public, I said: ‘We can win everything, if we are not kings of the continent, we cannot be kings of the world’. In the meantime, I came back to earth a little. I think it will be very difficult for us to win the CAN. We will not be favorites. The nations that didn’t experience the last World Cup scare me more than the others. But for us, in sub-Saharan Africa, it has always been complicated for Morocco”declared the 48-year-old technician, before continuing with a mix of lucidity and self-deprecation. “We have won only one African Cup in our history (in 1976, editor’s note). The last time we made a semi-final, I think I was a player, I had hair. »
???? | Walid Regragui ???????? :
“The last time Morocco reached the semi-finals of the CAN, I still had hair on my head. » ????????
pic.twitter.com/ImkXubqF5C— Moroccan Players ???????? (@JoueursMA) October 14, 2023
Then to make his mea culpa: “I apologize to the Moroccan people because I said that I would leave the selection myself if we did not make at least the last four. I think today there are better teams than Morocco on the continent. » Real backpedaling or also a strategy to relieve pressure less than three months before the launch of the CAN? Everyone will have their own opinion…
2023-10-16 21:57:59
#Regragui #spoke #quickly..
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