Morocco-Portugal
World Cup 2022: Morocco believes in the feat against Portugal
Youssef En-Nesyri scored Morocco's second goal against Canada in the group stage.
REUTERS - CARL RECINE
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
2 mins
Morocco arrives for the first time in its history in the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
To dream even more, the Atlas Lions will have to beat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal on Saturday, December 10.
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From our special envoy to Qatar,
"
No regrets, no regrets, no regrets
," coach Walid Regragui repeats over and over.
Morocco is for the first time in its history in the quarter-finals, and "
fears no one
", as third goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti says.
Only three African teams had achieved
such a course
before: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.
To reach this stage of the competition, the Atlas Lions have offered Spain in the round of 16, a nation titled at the 2010 World Cup.
In the group stage, Romain Saïss
' teammates
finished in first place in the group.
Who would have bet a penny on this result?
However, Walid Regragui says it's anything but an “
accident
”.
“
We have worked hard to get here.
The challenge is to do the same thing again against Portugal four days after Spain.
»
The pride of the Arab world
“
I am proud of my country and
my team
.
Yes, the Moroccan people are behind us.
We are also an African team.
We feel this positive spirit throughout the African continent and in the Arab world
,” says Walid Regragui.
In Doha, in the pedestrian streets of the Msheireb district, we met three young natives of Kuwait, Moroccan flag on their shoulders.
After the victory against Spain, the King of Morocco went out to celebrate this passage in the quarter-finals with the people.
And people in Baghdad in Iraq, in Beirut in Lebanon, in Ramallah in the West Bank, in Egypt, in Yemen, or in Saudi Arabia celebrated the event.
The Queen of Jordan, Rania, even split a message on Twitter: “
Congratulations to the Atlas Lions, you delight us, Wow Morocco
!
»
“
We just thwarted the predictions
”
"
A national team must give emotions and unite to give a positive image
," says Walid Regragui.
If we succeed in that, that's good.
We did not come only to give joy, but also to win matches.
What matters to us is to win tomorrow's game.
I'm not on cloud nine yet, we just thwarted the predictions.
In football, anything is possible.
The players are still hungry and will not be satisfied with a quarter-final.
Be careful, however, because many Moroccan players stick out their tongues.
Aware of Morocco's weak bridges, Walid Regragui announces that he wants to put in place a plan to "
create
" another surprise.
“
At this stage of the competition, everyone is analyzing everyone.
You have to focus on what you know how to do.
We are the stone in the shoe against a team that can win the World Cup
, ”concludes the Moroccan coach.
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