2022 World Cup: "dream" and "work", secrets of Moroccan success
Defender Jawad El Yamiq with the Moroccan flag.
December 10, 2022. REUTERS - CARL RECINE
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
2 mins
With its feat against Portugal (1-0), Morocco is in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Walid Regragui's men wrote history by becoming the first African nation to reach the last four.
Advertising
Read more
From our special envoy to Qatar,
Cristiano Ronaldo's tears, Pepe's sadness.
Consequences of an African team that
created a major achievement in Qatar
, for the first time since the creation of the World Cup in 1930.
Morocco is in the semi-finals, something unthinkable when the Atlas Lions had set foot on Qatari soil, with only dreams in mind.
But for the men of Walid Regragui, it is now reality.
"
We knew we had to overcome the challenges of Morocco, which Spain did not do
," commented Portuguese coach Fernando Santos at a press conference.
In the second half, we tried to turn things around.
We had four or five chances and luck was not on our side.
In added time, we saw our players anxious and there was no success
.
After a fantastic first round, Morocco got rid of Spain in the round of 16 and today Portugal in the quarters.
“We have changed mentalities”
"
It's hard to find the words at the moment, we're going to rest and wait for the rest," said Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Thank you to all our players who were still at the level.
Don't pinch me, because I'm dreaming.
Today we can face all the teams in the world.
We have changed mentalities.
We provided the greatest performance on the lawn
.
»
“
The team did a fantastic job, with desire, with passion.
We took advantage of the energy of the public, the good vibes.
We will have to recover before facing a new great team.
That's the World Cup
, ”slips Walid Regragui, tears in his eyes, who believes he has pleased the entire African continent.
While Cameroon, Tunisia and Ghana came out in the first round, and Senegal in the round of 16, Morocco managed to break the glass ceiling, thanks in particular to Yacine Bounou, elected man of the match against the Portuguese.
In five games, the Sevilla FC goalkeeper has four clean sheets.
He quickly entered his match by boxing a diving header from Joao Félix, found on a free kick from Bruno Fernandes in the fourth minute.
Against Morocco, Portugal, which had always scored at least one goal in its last ten World Cup finals matches, never found the fault.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
World Cup 2022
Sports
Morocco
Portugal