The national coach, Walid Regragui, presented himself at a press conference this Monday in Agadir, on the eve of the meeting against Congo-Brazzaville on behalf of the qualifications for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, in Mexico and Canada.
The Atlas Lions won their first match against Zambia (2-1), Friday June 7, despite a lackluster performance which raised many questions about the level shown by the team a few months away. the 2025 African Cup of Nations which will be played at home.
At a press conference, the Mountakhab coach responded to criticism, particularly on the central hinge considered feverish. “I didn’t find the central hinge to be in trouble. There are matches where they were stronger but there they held on until the goal conceded in the 80th minute. I am satisfied with my defenders. I don’t think we saw the same match.”he replied.
Concerning certain absences for this next match, Regragui affirmed that there were small problems with the infirmary. “There are uncertainties concerning certain players, I am not going to name them, we will see tomorrow”did he declare.
Regragui also returned to the performance of the new nugget of the national team, Eliesse Ben Seghir, author of Morocco’s second goal against Zambia, his first since his arrival in the selection in March.
“Eliesse Ben Seghir is a very talented player who today gives us balance between the right and left flank. Thanks to him we have more balance on the attack and we will progress much more on that side and become less predictable for the opponents”he rejoiced.
Regarding his choice of attackers, in particular that of starting Youssef En-Nesyri at the expense of Ayoub El Kaabi, the coach declared: “When you are a coach, you see the fitness of the players but also the balance. I wanted to start with En-Nesyri for this first match then choose El Kaabi for technique in the second half. I have the king’s choice regarding my attackers and En-Nesyri scored a lot of goals with Sevilla FC”.
As for Tuesday’s match against Congo-Brazzaville, Regragui remains focused on his goal of winning this match. “The most important thing is to win tomorrow and create chances and we will see for the September meeting if we need to make any changes. It’s true there are a lot of criticisms but we know where we are going. It will be more and more difficult in the future, the African teams have progressed a lot but it’s up to us to do the work. he says, before adding:
“We will respect the Congo-Brazzaville team. The players will be focused, so don’t say that it will be an easy match. We want to finish first in our group and qualify for CDM 2026. We hope to have a better match than Friday (…) We must be more vigilant and work on pressing and counter-pressing. These are teams that wait for us to make a mistake to score. The work is progressive ».
Regragui also returned to the episode of the bloodshed of his players Hakim Ziyech and Youssef En-Nesyri who showed a certain frustration after being replaced at the start of the second half against Zambia.
“You can’t control someone who’s upset about a replacement. The same evening it was settled with Ziyech and En-Nesyri, it’s normal to be frustrated. Youssef knows he was wrong when he threw the bottle. It was someone who was well educated who asked for forgiveness. Hakim you know him, he likes to play, he likes to score. Everything is going well now, it’s a united team. It wasn’t a good image but you have to know how to forgive.”he concluded to close this chapter, thus putting an end to rumors about a disagreement within the group.
“The public is with us, they trust us, they love us, they love Ziyech, they love Brahim. I know this team, they live well, they are happy, they are united, there is no clan. “, he said. That should be clear.
