As coach Walid Regragui put it before Wednesday’s matchup with defending champion France. Regragui believes Morocco wants more. The Atlas Lions are hungry for more than a spot in the World Cup semifinals. Moroccans have made history by being the first African team to get to the semifinals, but Regragui has his eyes set even higher.
Regragui believes Morocco wants more
The Moroccan head coach wasted no time pointing up his team’s knockout-round victories over Spain and Portugal that set up a semifinal showdown with Didier Deschamps’ squad. Regragui has not made a call on the fitness of crucial central defender Romain Saiss or any of Morocco’s other injured players.
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“If we are happy just to reach semifinal and some see that as enough, I don’t agree,” Regragui told a press conference.
“If you get to the semifinals and are not hungry, there is a problem.
“The best team in the tournament, Brazil is already out. Also, we are an ambitious team and we are hungry but I don’t know if that will be enough,” he added.
“We want Africa to be top of the world, but we will have to be strong to progress. We are not the favourites but we are confident – maybe that makes me mad, crazy? A bit of crazy can be good,” he added.
“Everyone might think we are tired, they said that before the last games too, you can’t be tired in a World Cup semi. Yes, we are still hungry,” he added.
“We had perhaps the most difficult route to the semis. Every round people thought we would get knocked out but we are still here and we are going to fight to the end,” he said.
“We have a number of injuries but we have an excellent medical staff who are working hard and coming with good news every day,” said Regragui.
“We will have to wait to last minute, we tend to do that, no one is out but no one is definitely in either,” he said.
