Morocco coach Walid Regragui refuses to consider the "Atlas Lions" reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for the first time in the history of Arab football, as "the pinnacle of achievement", stressing that Moroccan players are still thirsty to achieve the best and continue to compete with the same strength in every match they play. He also emphasized the players' sense of responsibility after the great support they received from Arabs and Africans.

Tomorrow, Saturday night, the “Atlas Lions” will face Portugal in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, after achieving one of the biggest surprises of the tournament, after eliminating Spain in the last round by penalty kicks 3-0, after the end of the original and extra time of the match with a 0-0 draw.

A difficult task and a big dream

In the press conference preceding the confrontation, Regragui did not hide today, Friday, his great happiness at reaching this role, but stressed his great desire to "continue the dream and achieve another surprise."

"The more we advance in the roles, the more difficult and important the task becomes," Rekragui said.

Walid #Rakragui, coach


of #Morocco: We will once again face one of the best teams in the world and they have the best player in history.. It will be difficult #WorldCup_Qatar_2022 |

#FIFAWorldCup |

#Qatar2022 @FRMFofficiel @EnMaroc pic.twitter.com/YdANTSsS4V

- Al-Kass channels (@alkasschannel) December 9, 2022

He added, "We know that the task will not be as easy as it was against Croatia, Belgium and Spain, these matches are at the same level of difficulty, and we will do our best again to create another surprise, as long as no one expected us to go to the final price or the quarter-finals, and we are still We have another match ahead of us to go further into history and we are very excited to succeed in the new challenge that awaits us."

"We respect Portugal a lot, and we have seen many matches for it. They are at their level and have high-level strikers, and I think they also know that we are a good team. It is an equal match and will be decided in small details, such as the final price match," Regragui said.

Regragui does not want Ronaldo

The occasion did not pass without talking about "Don" Cristiano Ronaldo, about whom a lot of controversy arose, regarding the possibility of his participation in this match, especially after he entered as a substitute in the last Switzerland match.

Regragui expressed his hope that Ronaldo would not participate in the match, given his great value.

Likewise, the former coach of Al-Duhail, Qatar, acknowledged the Portuguese advantage on the physical level, "I cannot hide it. They have a physical advantage compared to us, but we will also be ready."

How does Rerakki expect Portugal match?

Regragui considered that the Portugal match "is decided by the small details, as Portugal will try to speed up the pace of play from the start to take advantage of the fact that we played 120 minutes against Spain and scored quickly, and if you did not score in the first half or we succeeded in advancing the result, things will be difficult for them and therefore we will have our plan, we We know our quality, our strengths and our weaknesses, it is difficult to score goals against us and we have offensive qualifications that enable us to score goals.”

He explained, "All teams study the strengths and weaknesses of other teams, and this is normal. We certainly have weaknesses like all teams, but Portugal has fewer weaknesses. It is like high-level teams such as Belgium and Spain. It has experience playing these matches, and we will focus on what we know to do and what to do." How to create problems for her, so we analyzed her matches as well and we will try to come up with a plan to create a surprise."

Other peoples are praying for us.

On the other hand, the Moroccan national team coach considered that the praise for the achieved achievement does not constitute negative pressure, "but rather positive. We have nothing to lose. The challenge that awaits us is to play well as we did in previous matches."

He added, "We know that our fans are very demanding and demanding to win the title. We deal with each match separately and deal with the pressures in its positive aspect, and we ask them to pray more. We know that our Arab people support us, and the continent of Africa supports us, and this is a huge positive energy in our favor and we will try to exploit it and do everything in our power." We can."

We will not look for excuses

The Atlas Lions made a great physical effort in the first round after defeating Belgium and Canada before beating Spain with a penalty shootout in the round of 16, and the Arab team lost the main defender, Nayef Akrad, who is suspected of participating in Saturday's match after being injured in the posterior thigh muscles, along with other key players. Like captain Romain Sayes and safety valve in the middle of the field, Sofiane Amrabat, due to injuries as well.

Walid


#Rakraki, coach of #Morocco: We have not decided the fate of the participation of #Kurd, and we, like all teams, have injuries and we must find solutions #World_Cup_Qatar_2022 |

#FIFAWorldCup |

#Qatar2022 @FRMFofficiel @EnMaroc pic.twitter.com/Gii4CzYLSp

- Al-Kass channels (@alkasschannel) December 9, 2022

In addition to acknowledging the fatigue of his players, Regragui said, "When you reach this role in the tournament, you have to rely on everyone in the team, so if Nayef is unable to play, someone else will have to replace him. We will not look for excuses, we are here on a mission."

Rekragui pointed out that many players arrived in Qatar suffering from injuries and problems and had to play despite that. The Lions have enjoyed massive support from their fans over the past 4 matches, and it is expected that this will not change on Saturday.

"The atmosphere is great, the audience blends in with us," Rekragui said in this regard. "It was great to see our people happy, but the important thing for us is to hold on to the opportunity to write history."

It is noteworthy that the match between Morocco and Portugal will be held on the grounds of Al-Thumama Stadium, and will start at six o’clock in the evening, Mecca Al-Mukarramah time.