Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 11:56 p.m.
Franceville (Gabon) – The match which will pit the Moroccan national team against its Gabonese counterpart on Friday on behalf of the fifth day of the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) which will take place from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026 in Morocco, will be a confrontation like that of the first leg, “very open and offensive with two teams liberated and who want to win”, affirmed the national coach, Walid Regragui.
“I think both teams will be released. I expect a match like the first leg, very open and offensive with two teams who want to win,” declared the national coach on Thursday evening during the pre-match press conference.
Congratulating the Gabonese selection for its qualification for CAN 2025, welcoming it to the CAN in Morocco, Walid Regragui recalled that there are always difficult confrontations between the two teams. “We are very happy to be in Gabon and we know the friendship that binds our two peoples,” he said.
“Gabon, which has always had very good players, has a real offensive style of play,” he said, adding that the Atlas Lions “are going to participate in a very good match and in very good terms”.
According to Mr. Regragui, this confrontation will be different against a team which will be released and already qualified, which will impact the style of play of the two selections. “The objective for us is to have a different challenge in each match. Every away match for any team in Africa is difficult, which is a good challenge for us,” he said.
Concerning the physical state of certain players, the national coach said that “there are some problems with players who have been injured, but the bulk of our squad is present”. “we will wait until the last training to find out how the trip went for certain players and the last physical problems to know if they will participate, since we will play a second match next Monday,” explained the Lions coach of the Atlas.
For Walid, the idea is to do a squad review without shaking up the team too much. “We have to have certainty in each match to progress together,” he noted, stressing that the new players who have joined the national team since the last CAN must adapt to the team.
He made it clear that the objective of the Atlas Lions is to win this meeting and to have a benchmark away match, noting that “it is a match between two great teams, two countries that like each other”.
On the other hand, the national coach affirmed that Morocco’s objective during the qualifiers was to qualify, despite the fact that the Kingdom is already qualified as host country, specifying that the national team has objectives to short, medium and long term.
The press conference was followed by a training session at the Franceville stadium open to the press for the first 15 minutes.
Morocco, leader of Group B with 12 points, faces Gabon on Friday at 8:00 p.m., before hosting Lesotho next Monday at the Oujda Stadium of Honor.
Gabon, which occupies second place with seven points, qualified for CAN 2025 before playing the fifth day of the qualifiers against Morocco, taking advantage of Lesotho’s victory over the Central African Republic (1-0).
