His trial period just ended, the coach of Morocco, Walid Regragui, could revisit Pierre Corneille in his own way: “To well-born teams, value does not wait for the number of years. » Because where Didier Deschamps has accumulated more than a hundred games on the bench of the Blues (134), the coach of the Atlas Lions, appointed at the end of August, still counts his on the fingers of one hand.
Four days after having surprised Belgium (2-0) and plunged the Red Devils into crisis, his team faces Thursday 1er December Canada, already eliminated, with the ambition of reaching the round of 16 of the World Cup.
A victory at the World Cup, even the first for the Maghreb country since 1998, does not satisfy the ambitious 47-year-old technician. “We didn’t do anything, we didn’t qualify and I came to qualify”, insisted Regragui after the match against the Belgians. Proud of“fighting spirit” of his troops, the Franco-Moroccan does not hide his desire to“to exist like the great nations”.
The first African country to extract itself from the group stages in 1986, Morocco has come up against this glass ceiling for thirty-six years. In 1998, an improbable victory in the last minutes of Norway against Brazil thus passed the land of laughter to tears in seconds.
In three months, Walid Regragui has hardly had time to take the pulse of his team. Responsible for renewing relations with several internationals dismissed by his predecessor Vahid Halilhodzic, the recent winner of the African Champions League with Wydad Casablanca got down to the task, without however giving up the heritage of the Franco-Bosnian technician.
“Let it frolic” rather than “tame”
Walid Regragui relies on the qualities of his players: a solid defense and an ability to project himself sharply. By dint of patience, he convinced one of the stars of the selection, Hakim Ziyech, to return to the national colors. Contrary to the very rigid Vahid Halilhodzic, who had toiled away “tame and show [qu’il était] the master “ to ” wild Horse ” what is the twirling winger of Chelsea – the words of Regragui -, the new coach has chosen to “Let him roam, with rules that suit him and suit the group”. Well he took it.
Against Belgium, the player who grew up in a city of Amsterdam was illustrated in particular by a tumble from the first minute and an assist for Zakaria Aboukhlal in added time. Hakim Ziyech has won praise from his coach. ” He is incredible. A lot of people talk about him as someone who is difficult to manage, but if you give him pride and love, he can die for you”insisted Walid Regragui after the Moroccan victory.
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