Monday, September 30, 2024 at 11:00
TODAY: ALI REFOUH
Bukhara (Uzbekistan) – By reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan, the Moroccan selection signed a performance similar to that of the 2021 edition in Lithuania, but above all continues its constant progression in this international competition.
The Atlas Lions have already started this fourth participation in a row at the World Cup on a positive note, by signing two victories in a row, thus ensuring an early qualification for the round of 16.
Winners of Tajikistan (4-2) on September 16 and Panama (6-3) on the 19th of the same month, they are doing better than in 2021, when they needed a victory (6-0) against the Solomon Islands and two draws, against Thailand (1-1) and Portugal (3 – 3), to punch their ticket at the finish, ahead of Thailand in the ranking by a single point.
At the same time, the national team signed more victories compared to 2021, namely three if we count its success against Iran (4-3), in the round of 16, compared to two in Lithuania, where the Nationals also signed their second victory against Venezuela (3-2) in the round of 16.
In terms of goals, the Moroccan attack was slightly more prolific with 16 goals scored, compared to 13 in Lithuania.
For Hicham Dguig, this performance means that the national team has confirmed its world ranking, and implies more work moving forward.
“We are among the eight best in the world and we confirm that we deserve our rank, while selections which worked well before us, have not reached this level”, affirmed Dguig, following the lost quarter-final match against Brazil.
For the Moroccan technician, Morocco is only just starting out in the World Cup, unlike other selections which became seasoned very early in this competition.
“The Futsal World Cup started 40 years ago. We are already in the tenth edition. Morocco only started playing the World Cup in 2012,” recalled the national coach, for whom basic training is the keystone for a better future for national futsal.
“The big teams are already reaping the fruit of training young categories, while our experience in this area is only just beginning,” he noted, giving the example of Portugal, “whose players are trained in futsal from a young age, while we work directly with seniors”.
Competitiveness is also an important factor that Morocco, and more generally Africa, must take into account to develop futsal.
In this sense, Dguig underlined, after the victory against Iran, that Asian teams play more official matches, compared to African teams.
“You should know that Asian teams play the continental cup every two years and the champions league every year, in addition to sub-regional competitions, while in Africa, there is only one continental cup which is played in ten days”, and every four years, he noted with regret.
The Moroccan selection left the 2024 World Cup at the quarter-final stage after its defeat against Brazil (1-3) on Sunday in Bukhara.
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