In a packed conference room, Walid Regragui took over from his Cameroonian counterpart David Pagou to explain why he believes his team is capable of defeating the Cameroonian “bete noire” on Friday on the pitch at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in Rabat and stealing a one-way ticket to the last four of the CAN.
Can you give us an overview of the Moroccan infirmary?
WALID REGRAGUI. We recover Hamza (Igamane), even if he was ready for the previous match. It comes back 100%. Amrabat still has a problem with his ankle, it doesn’t allow him to be 100%. We’ll see how we can use it but it’s still suffering. Romain (Saïss) is still recovering but he is coming back well.
Do you think this quarter-final will come down to confidence and mentality?
Necessarily. Confidence and mentality are among the keys in this type of meeting. But above all it will take a lot of concentration because it is those who make the fewest mistakes who will pass. It will be a real fight.
With Cameroon always having the upper hand over Morocco, this match is marked by the weight of the past. How do you manage it with your players?
You talk about history and the reality is that Cameroon is the bane of Morocco. Cameroon has won many times in Morocco. But the past is the past. This is the new Morocco, the past no longer exists. The last confrontations turned out in our favor. And personally, I have never lost against Cameroon. But if Cameroon is in good shape, they also have everything to lose: if they are eliminated, they will have to wait two years before returning to such competition. We have the World Cup in six months. We have pressure, but so do they. They have a great president, a fantastic coach, and great players. For us it is the CAN of humility, our audience is starting to understand it. If we are humble we will get a result. But Morocco is worth Cameroon and vice versa. We have a good squad, great players but we are not above the others. But we have the humility to believe that we can win this African Cup of Nations.
Morocco’s game leans a lot on the right side. Do you think you’ll balance your game more?
It depends on the profile of our full-backs. Achraf Hakimi is the best African player, it is logical that our game swings to the right. There, it had been a long time since he had played 90 minutes. We have not yet seen Ashraf at his prime at the CAN. He will be at his prime tomorrow, inshallah. But it can also swing to the left, we have balanced the two sides since the World Cup.
Why do players speak so little to the press after matches?
We accept criticism, we are high-level players and staff. For our part, we do our best to get the players to speak. We ask them to communicate because we know that the public and the press need to hear them. But in all countries it’s the same thing. We hear that you may be disappointed. But you have to hear that players can be disappointed with their performance and don’t want to express themselves after a match. And then you can’t knock on them all year long and expect them to come talk to you.
David Pagou described you as the most experienced with your World Cup semi-final. What do you think of his work?
I would like to congratulate him because it was a difficult mission to take the keys to the selection just before the CAN. He put his paw on the team. But with his six years older, he is more experienced than me, he knows the Cameroonian mentality well. I am happy that Samuel (Eto’o) trusted a coach from the country, it shows the trend that African football is taking. Congratulations to him, may the best win tomorrow. There are two good coaches, two good teams, we put on a good show.
