Al Khor, Qatar: Morocco coach Walid Regragui said ahead of their match against world champions France on Wednesday that his team is not content with making it to the World Cup semifinals and is hungry for more.
At a press conference, Regragui stated, “If we are happy with just making it to the semifinals and some think that is enough, I don’t agree.”
“If you get to the semi-finals and you are not hungry then there is a problem.
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“The best team in the tournament, Brazil is already out. We are an ambitious team and we are hungry but I don’t know if that will be enough,” he added.
Morocco are the first African team to reach the last four but Regragui has his sights on making more history.
“We want Africa to be top of the world, but we will have to be strong to progress. We are not the favourites but we are confident – maybe that makes me mad, crazy? A bit of crazy can be good,” he added.
“Everyone might think we are tired, they said that before the last games too, you can’t be tired in a World Cup semi. Yes, we are still hungry,” he added.
The Morocco coach was quick to offer a reminder that his team had upset Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds to set up their last four meeting with Didier Deschamps’ side.
“We had perhaps the most difficult route to the semis. Every round people thought we would get knocked out but we are still here and we are going to fight to the end,” he said.
One of the injured players is Morocco’s key central defender Romain Saiss, though Regragui noted that a decision regarding their fitness has not yet been taken.
“We have a superb medical personnel that are working hard and come with good news every day, but we have numerous injuries,” Regragui said.
He remarked, “We will have to wait until the very last minute. No one is definitely in, but no one is obviously out either.”
