Excellent in victory, perfect in defeat. Walid Regragi, despite the failure of his troops in the match for third place against Croatia (1-2), once again gave an excellent image to his country during the post-match press conference. His players, after the final whistle, struggled to cope with their nerves and rushed to the referee, who was accused of forgetting two penalties for them. A somewhat mediocre end to the tournament, as Morocco so tempted them in a month in Doha. However, the success of the Croats, less exhausted and more technical, is not usurped.
But Regragi got things back on track in a few sentences. “Hiding behind arbitration is not Moroccan. First of all, it cannot be said that the judge showed us disrespect. When we lose, there is bound to be disappointment, but the impact of our tournament on African football will remain. Honestly, congratulations to Croatia, which deserved this third place. »
“In fifteen to twenty years, the African team will win the World Cup”
Very quickly, the Moroccan coach replaced the discussion about the fruits his country would later reap from this Qatari campaign. “If France or Croatia beat us, it’s because they had more experience at the highest level than we did. There we are in the process of reaping, and it will come in handy later. We were simply beaten in details. This means that we are very close. The goal remains to win the World Cup. »
For Regraga, the time when the African selectors were satisfied with the passage of the first round is over. “Now you have to be in the 1/8 finals all the time, or at least in the quarter-finals. In 2026, we will move from five qualified teams to nine. This will inevitably help. I repeat, in fifteen or twenty years, the African team will definitely win the World Cup. »
Walid Regragui says he only has one image left from this World Cup. Which happened four times. “With every victory we have, we have seen the Moroccans take to the streets. And His Majesty (King Mohammed VI) went down with them. »
Asked to announce whether Morocco’s 2022 harvest is the best African team ever, Regragui smiled. “This is what I said to my players in the dressing room: If you want to go down in history, you need to be African champion in a year. There you will be called the greatest generation in the history of the continent. Still simple: if we want to be kings of the world, let’s start by being kings at home. We are now favorites for the next CAN (in January 2024 in Ivory Coast). It’s a lot of pressure, but it’s what we wanted. »
Source: Le Parisien
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