Walid Regragui was brutal with his statements before Morocco’s World Cup semi-final matchup against champions France, much like a boxer underdog who defied the odds and deposed a world champion.
Walid Regragui was brutal with his statements before Morocco’s World Cup semi-final matchup against champions France, much like a boxer underdog who defied the odds and deposed a world champion.
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“A bit of crazy can be good,” said Regragui of Atlas Lions’ historic feat of having become the first African and Arab team ever to make the semi-finals at a World Cup.
Morocco have been brutal to their opponents in Qatar so far. They have thrown all the hard punches at every game they have played, knocking out Spain on penalties in the last 16 and then Portugal in the quarters after topping their group ahead of Croatia and Belgium. The only time they have conceded in five games is an own goal against Canada in the group stage.
Morocco’s previous best performance at a World Cup came in 1986, when they lost in the last 16. The other four times they had qualified before this year, they
had failed to progress from the group stage.
The loquacious and plain-speaking Regragui, who was born in a suburb south-east of Paris and spent the bulk of his playing career in France before moving to Morocco to coach, urged his team to dare to dream and backed them to cause another upset today. “We want to win the World Cup,” he said.
“It’s not just words, we have to go further, and maybe we won’t have another opportunity. We are not the favourites but we are confident – maybe that makes me mad, crazy? A bit of crazy can be good,” he grinned, having previously dubbed his team as ‘the Rocky Balboa of this World Cup’.
Morocco’s game plan has been based on their ability to defend deep and counter-attack at every opportunity. So far the strategy has worked for Regragui but with injuries growing in his squad, it remains to be seen whether he will have the arsenal to stop Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud – the Frenchmen who have scored five and four goals respectively so far.
Centre-back Nayef Aguerd missed the Portugal game with a muscle injury and his regular partner Romain Saiss was substituted with a repeat of a hamstring injury. There is also fitness concern over key midfielder Sofyan Amrabat and today’s game will be a real test of their durability and stamina.
“The key for us is spirit, we play a quality game every time with a good spirit. For me the spirit is the most important thing in football – we have to play with the heart and the spirit. We will play to our strengths… this idea of possession, it is amazing how football journalists love these figures about 60-70% possession, but it is no good if there are only two shots on goal. If France give us possession, we will take it but I don’t think they will. So we will try to stop them,” Regragui, who took over only in August, said.
“If we can make young people dream and present a positive image of Africa, the Arab world and our religion that is great. Before every round people thought we would get knocked out. But we are still here and we are going to fight to the end.”
In Qatar, Regragui’s men have played with fervour and grit which has been complimented by the relentless backing of the Moroccan fans, who are part of Qatar’s huge foreign population. Some overzealous fans have also attempted to enter the stadium with tickets. With thirty more flights scheduled to arrive from Morocco for today’s semi-final at Al Bayt, the North Africans will have a huge backing compared to their fancied opponents.
For France, they have in a way defied expectations too. The two-time champions lost the midfield duo of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante even before the tournament started, while world player of the year Karim Benzema was also ruled out after reaching Qatar.
But coach Didier Deschamps has found his heroes when it has mattered most with Mbappe and Giroud lethal upfront while Antoine Griezmann, in his new role as deep lying midfielder, emerging as undoubtedly the outstanding French player in the tournament.
France, who defeated England on Saturday, are looking to become the first team in 60 years to retain the trophy. Yesterday, Deschamps admitted it will be ‘extremely noisy’ at Al Bayt today, while the Les Bleus captain Hugo Lloris called Morocco as ‘formidable opponents.”
“I don’t like the term hostile but there is a popular fervour behind them. It will be very noisy and my players have been warned about that. They know what to expect. They’re benefiting from a huge support and we’ll have to be ready for it,” said Didier Deschamps, acknowledging the French fans will be largely outnumbered by the Morocco supporters.
“We want to have the ball to create danger, but you saw that in our game against Poland (in the last 16) they actually had it more than expected. We’re as good as Morocco on the break and on fast attacks. We won’t abandon possession, but when we will have the ball we’re going to have to make it count,” he added.
Griezmann was urged by Deschamps to carry on his impressive World Cup performance. Deschamps added of the 31-year-old, “Antoine has been very good and he will need to be very good again.” He is portraying a new character, yet it is a part that fits him. He has always had the squad as a whole in mind and enjoys winning tackles just as much as playing passes.
