Following the Moroccan national team’s 1-2 loss to their South African opponent in the penultimate round of the African Cup of Nations qualifications, national coach Walid Regragui expressed his extreme dissatisfaction.

Despite the defeat, Regragui admitted that the setback at this point might improve the team’s performance in the future as it gives them time to evaluate their tactics before the finals.

Regragui congratulated the South African team during the post-game press conference, highlighting their well-earned victory on home soil.

He praised them for their outstanding performance and positive attitude throughout the game. Regragui acknowledged that his squad did not play at their peak during the opening period, giving their opponents multiple opportunities—an inexcusable error at such a crucial point in the match.

He did, however, underline his disregard for a few defeats in the run-up to the African Nations Cup finals, suggesting that his remarks might have had an impact on the players’ perspective.

“In the second half, we played with renewed enthusiasm and created numerous scoring chances. However, in the end, our opponents proved more deserving of the win.”

“We made several changes in this match, aiming to observe and evaluate as many players as possible. Some players gained points to secure their return to the national team, while others failed to impress. This was the purpose of the meeting—to gain a clearer perspective.”

“I stand by my initial statement,” the coach insisted. For the time being, our first priority is to take a rest and really get ready for the African Cup of Nations finals in September. All teams face difficulties in June since many players have just finished a taxing European season. To demand more than they are capable of doing at this point, when exhaustion is common, would be unfair.

Read Also: Morocco defeated in South Africa friendly 1-2

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Morocco’s national team will play a friendly against Cape Verde on June 12, according to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF).

“On Monday, June 12, 2023, the first national team will face the Cape Verde Republic in a friendly match,” the FRMF stated.

The match will begin at 8 p.m. local time at the Prince Moulay Abdallah Sports Complex Stadium in Rabat.

The match will serve as a warm-up for Morocco’s forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa. The game is scheduled for June 17 at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The Confederation of African Football has appointed Chadian referee Haji Allau Mahamat to lead the match that will bring together the national team and its South African counterpart in Johannesburg,” the FMRF noted.

“CAF entrusted the task of the two assistant referees to Cameroonian Albes Kai Nbu Nkogo and Chadian Issa Yaya,” the FRMF statement continued.

The Moroccan squad will be looking to capitalize on their outstanding results in the 2022 World Cup and recent friendly games in the friendly encounter against Cape Verde.

Morocco overcame Brazil 2-1 in Tangier earlier this year, becoming the first Arab country to accomplish it. The team’s other friendly versus Peru resulted in a 0-0 tie.

The Atlas Lions, led by head coach Walid Regragui, made their mark on the international stage during the 2022 international Cup in Qatar, reaching the semi-finals and being the first African and Arab side to do so.

Morocco’s recent performances enhanced the squad’s standing in the current FIFA Rankings, which place Morocco as the world’s 11th best national team, making them the top-ranked African and Arab team.

Read Also: Cape Verde Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan

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Walid Regragui, the head coach of Morocco, was named the “Best Arab and International Manager” on Sunday during a ceremony hosted by Sky News Arabia.

At “Legends Night 2023,” the Ramadan evening when the Abu Dhabi-based news channel celebrates and honors renowned sports legends, Regragui was presented with the trophy.

Former Wydad AC coach Regragui gave a speech during the event in which he thanked Muslims, Arabs, and Africans for their unwavering and persistent support of Morocco throughout the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

He emphasized that his goal was to show everyone that a team from Africa or the Middle East is capable of winning the World Cup. He emphasized, “With your trust and support, we will succeed.

Regragui reiterated that the Atlas Lions have the ability to become the first African and Arab team to win the international competition, saying “Next time, inshallah, we do it.”

He emphasized that his goal was to show everyone that a team from Africa or the Middle East is capable of winning the World Cup. He emphasized, “With your trust and support, we will succeed.

Regragui reiterated that the Atlas Lions have the ability to become the first African and Arab team to win the international competition, saying “Next time, inshallah, we do it.”

#وليد_الركراكي خلال تتويجه بجائزة أفضل مدرب: سنفوز بكأس العالم القادمة #المغرب #أسود_الأطلس #خيمة_سكاي pic.twitter.com/InsoyzeAj1

— سكاي نيوز عربية (@skynewsarabia) April 2, 2023

He also expressed his gratitude to King Mohammed VI for his support of the national team during their journey to Qatar.

The Moroccan team, led by Regragui, overcame all odds and accomplished the unexpected in 2022, becoming the first Arab and African team to go to the World Cup semifinals.

In addition to ending a 36-year streak of failure to go past the round of 16, Morocco defeated and eliminated some of the biggest football powers in the world, including Belgium, Spain, and Portugal.

After losing to Croatia in the third-place playoff, Morocco ultimately came in fourth. Nonetheless, football fans from all around the world praised the Moroccan national team for their bravery, with many of them crediting their triumph to Regragui’s excellent coaching and strategy.

In only a few months in the role, the globally acclaimed coach had already guided the team to unparalleled success, making him a national hero and the pride of millions of Moroccans around the world.

In addition to Regragui, the Moroccan Royal Football Federation (FRMF) was lauded during the awards ceremony and named the Best Arab Federation in appreciation of its accomplishments at the team and club levels.

Read Also: A bridge will finally link Morocco to Spain, not a tunnel

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A Madrid hotel employee has been arrested for racist comments posted on social networks against the Moroccan national football team, which is staying at the hotel, Spanish police said on Monday, according to Le Figaro.

The 27-year-old Spanish man was arrested at the hotel around midnight on Sunday. He faces hate crime charges, a municipal police spokeswoman said. The police came to the hotel after a complaint from the hotel’s management about racist statements posted online, the same source added, without giving further details.

Spanish media published photos they said the man had posted on Instagram showing several members of the Moroccan team in the hotel’s restaurant, along with racist remarks.

https://twitter.com/TFT_Morocco/status/1640223914256105473?s=20

Asked about the incident in a press conference, coach Walid Regragui preferred not to blame the individual even more: “Many players and the Moroccan public have talked about the racism we have suffered. He’s a 19-20-year-old kid, we won’t dwell on that. In our religion, we are taught forgiveness and we forgive him.”

Regragui also hopes that in this way, the person who wrote these words will realise that what he described is completely wrong: “The best example in this Ramadan period is to forgive him, and he will understand that what he thinks of Muslims is not the reality. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Morocco will face Peru in a friendly on Tuesday at Atletico Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano at 7.30 pm.

Read Also: Morocco-Brazil: International press amazed by the Lions’ performance against the Seleção 

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Walid Regragui, coach of the national team, spoke at a press conference on Monday about racist and anti-Islamic content published on social networks by an employee of the five-star Eurostars hotel in Madrid.

In response to a question from reporters, Regragui said the young employee should be forgiven for posting illegal photos of Atlas Lions during the dinner and including racist and anti-Islamic slurs. “We don’t accept what he did, but we are Muslims and we want to show people that in Islam you have to forgive,” Regragui said. He added that the boy was young, about 19 or 20 years old, and would not take responsibility for his actions.

Regragui cited the holy month of Ramadan and the values ​​of Muslims and the Moroccan people to explain his decision to induct the employee. Regragui suggested: “We reject racism, but he probably never left his country to know the difference, he didn’t know what Islam was and he never met an Arab.”

The coach also emphasized the importance of showing forgiveness and invited the young employee to experience Moroccan and Islamic culture firsthand. “We forgive him. If he wants to come to our house and see how Moroccans and Muslims are doing, how Ramadan is going on and how he feels, he is welcome.”

Read Also: Morocco forced to restrict tomato exports

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National coach Walid Regragui has unveiled his first Atlas Lions list after their brilliant performance at the 2022 World Cup. The list of players called up was highly anticipated by Moroccan fans.

The national coach opted for stability by calling up most of the heroes of the last World Cup. We find the big names such as Yassine Bounou, Romain Saiss, Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi and Sofyan Amrabat.

Unfortunately, some absences are to be noted, such as that of Selim Amallah, injured, and those of Badr Benoun and Ilias Chair. But Coach Walid has also reserved some surprises, by calling up players little known to the general public such as Ibrahim Salah, Yassine Kechta, Benjamin Bouchouari, Chadi Riad, Abdel Abqar and Ayoub Amraoui. The most attentive will notice the absence of Brahim Diaz, who has probably leaned towards Spain or the Mmaee brothers.

Here is the complete list of players selected by Walid Regragui for the upcoming matches of the Moroccan national team:

Goalkeepers:

• Yassine Bounou
• Munir Mohamedi
• Ahmed Reda Tagnatoui
• Mehdi Benabid

Defenders :

• Achraf Hakimi
• Nayef Aguerd
• Romain Saïss
• Noussair Mazraoui
• Chadi Riad
• Achraf Dari
• Jawad El Yamiq
• Abdel Abqar
• Yahia Attiat-Allah
• Ayoub Amraoui

Midfielders :

• Sofyan Amrabat
• Abdelhamid Sabiri
• Azzedine Ounahi
• Benjamin Bouchouari
• Bilal El khanouss
• Imran Louza
• Yassine Kechta

Forwards :

• Hakim Ziyech
• Abdessamad Ezzalzouli
• Zakaria Aboukhlal
• Youssef En-Nesyri
• Anass Zaroury
• Walid Cheddira
• Abderrazak Hamdallah
• Sofiane Boufal
•  Ibrahim Salah

Read Also: Official: Morocco to play Brazil and Peru in friendly matches

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Walid Regragui, the coach of the Moroccan national football team, received a very honourable result, winning the fourth place in the category of the “best coach for the 2021/2022 football season”, during the FIFA “The Best” awards ceremony, which was held last night, Monday, in the French capital Paris.

In light of the full results of the voting, which involved players, coaches and media, Regragui earned the respect of most of the world’s football regulars, as his name was repeated in the top three list on more than one occasion, but this did not encourage him to enter the final “top three”, with Spain’s Pep Guardiola, the coach of English team Manchester City, Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Spanish team Real Madrid, and Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni, the last to be crowned with the award.

Among his colleagues, Regragui won the votes of several international technical executives, as the Algerian voter chose him over Jamal Belmadi, while Italy’s Roberto Mancini, France’s Didier Deschamps, Spain’s de la Fuente and Argentina’s Scaloni (they chose him) placed him in the top three.

The international media, awarded points of excellence to the Moroccan national coach, through his representatives in the voting list for the best coach award, which made him compete strongly among the first four positions, without much difference with his colleague Pep Guardiola, who won the third place.

It is worth mentioning that Walid Regragui, who was crowned last season with the titles of Moroccan and African champion with the Wydad Athletic Club, led the Moroccan national team to achieve the best feat in the history of African football, reaching the semifinals of the last World Cup in Qatar, where the “Lions” took fourth place.

The Moroccan representation at the FIFA awards “The Best”, organized by the international football federation “FIFA”, and whose distribution ceremony took place on Monday evening, in the French capital Paris, received a great Algerian support.

The Algerian voter, Djamel Belmadi, voted for his colleague, Walid Regragui, the coach of the Moroccan national team, in first place.

Read Also: Achraf Hakimi named in FIFA’s best football team

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Salim El Jebari, the talented striker of Los Rojiblancos, has decided to play for the Atlas Lions at the expense of La Roja. He is expected to meet with Moroccan national team coach Walid Regragui later this week.

The young footballer had been called up by the Spanish U-19 team for the two friendly matches against Norway, but approached the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to withdraw from the call-up.

https://twitter.com/ActuFootAfrique/status/1628425027526828038?s=20

The reason is that Salim decided to play for Morocco, the country of his parents’ birth and of which he is a national, following the example of other footballers who have made the same decision, such as Achraf Hakimi of PSG or Munir El Haddadi, now at Getafe and who has even become an A international with Spain.

Informed sources told Hesport that coach Regragui has set an appointment to meet the Rojiblancos striker later this week, after being convinced of his technical abilities. It is expected that the player will gain the confidence of the Moroccan coach in the coming period, thus becoming one of the pioneers of the “Atlas Lions” offensive line.

According to the same sources, Salim El Jebari informed the RFEF of his decision, a few days ago, after the coach of the Spanish U19 national team invited him to participate in two friendly matches against Norway, affirming the choice of his home country.

The same sources revealed that Moussa El Habchi, in charge of analysing performances within the technical staff of the first national team, met this week with three Moroccan talents in Belgium, mandated by Regragui, with a view to summoning them to the next preparatory camp. These include defenders Ismael Kandouss and Mehdi Boukamir, professionals at Union Saint-Gilloise and Charleroi SC.

Read Also: Moroccan national football team nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards

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According to BeIN Sports, the national team’s coach is currently discussing with Walid Regragui whether Brahim Diaz will be the surprise inclusion in the Atlas Lions’ next squad for the friendly matches against Brazil and Peru. According to reports, the national team coach is currently in talks with the AC Milan player.

BeIN Sports reports that Walid Regragui, who was in Milan yesterday to watch AC Milan’s match against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League, took the opportunity to meet with Spanish-Moroccan striker Brahim Diaz to convince him to join the Atlas Lions.

https://twitter.com/beINSPORTSNews/status/1625833380272037890?s=20

The Real Madrid player scored the only goal of the match against Tottenham on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Regragui and Diaz are said to be talking about the future of the Milan star.

After having kept the suspense about his sporting nationality for a long time, Brahim Diaz could well be tempted by the Moroccan adventure, after a historic World Cup which made the Kingdom one of the four best teams in the competition.

The national team is back in action a few months before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast with two friendly matches in March, with Brazil and Peru.

Read Also: Brazil ‘s football federation describes Morocco as a “big opponent” ahead of a friendly match

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After guiding Morocco to a historic fourth-place finish at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Atlas Lions coach Walid Regragui has been ranked third among the world’s best coaches of 2022.

Walid Regragui has been chosen by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) as the third best coach in the world for 2022 with a total of 30 points, after his popularity increased following the outstanding success the Moroccan national team had at the most recent World Cup.

Prior to managing the technical crossbar of the national first team, Regragui led Wydad Sports Club to victory in the African Champions League and the throne of the African continent.

With a total of 240 points, Lionel Scaloni of Argentina took first place as the best coach in the world over the previous year. Didier Deschamps of France finished second with a total of 45 points.

However the coach of Croatia’s national team, which finished third at the World Cup, Zlatko Dalic, was ranked fourth among all coaches in the world. The Japanese national team’s coach placed fifth. The Dutch national team’s coach, Louis van Gaal, placed sixth.

The Saudi Arabian national team’s coach, Hervé Renard, finished in eighth place.

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