On the eve of this game, which promises to be a great battle between two teams from the world’s top 10, the national coach, Hicham Dguig and the players interviewed by the press, showed themselves determined to get through this and assured that they have the weapons to do so.
“This is the round of 16, a knockout stage. We have prepared for all possible scenarios,” said Dguig on the sidelines of the last training session before the big day on Wednesday in Bukhara.
For the national coach, the only headache is the effect that absences due to injuries could have, particularly in terms of concentration.
Indeed, just before the round of 16, the official list of the national team was reduced after the injury of Ismail Amazal against Portugal and the withdrawal of Othmane El Idrissi from the first match.
“We will play with 12 players instead of 14. This is not likely to have any effect on the physical aspect, but we fear that it will affect the players’ concentration,” he explained, assuring that the available elements are capable of achieving a good result.
For national team player Soufiane Charraoui, “tomorrow will be a real battle and we are prepared for it.”
“We have the will to stay here and we will do everything to win the match,” assured Charraoui.
“Iran is a top-5 team in the world, with quality players. Against them, the game will be hard-fought, but we know how to win,” he insisted.
The same goes for his teammate Khalid Bouzid, for whom the match will be very difficult against the Iranian team which is among the best in the world.
“We have agreed on the strategy to adopt to win the game. The key element for us will be self-confidence, a factor that we lacked against Portugal,” said the player, who did not fail to greet the Moroccan supporters.
“The public gives us a lot of joy. Wherever we go, we find Moroccans who support us. It makes me happy to see fellow citizens traveling to follow us and support us,” he rejoiced.
The match between Morocco and Iran will take place on Thursday in Bukhara (13:30 GMT+1).
Qualified for the last 16 on the 2nd day, Morocco finished second in group E, after its defeat against Portugal, reigning world champion, in a match on the 3rd day (1-4).
By beating France in the 3rd day match (4-1), Iran finished the group stage at the top of group F with 9 points.
MAP / DNES Ali Refouh
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