Tag: Walid Regragui

After beating Nigeria to reach Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on home soil, Morocco coach Walid Regragui shifted focus to the final against Senegal saying it will be a superb match-up when they face off on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou emerged the hero as the Atlas Lions booked their place in the final for the first time in 21 years, edging out Nigeria 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 semi-final contest in Rabat on Wednesday at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

Bounou, who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal, produced decisive saves to deny Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi and propel the Atlas Lions one step closer to continental glory.

Youssef En-Nesyri took the decisive kick for Morocco after Bounou had stopped Onyemaechi’s effort. Neil El Aynaoui and Paul Onuachu converted the first penalties for Morocco and Nigeria, respectively, before Stanley Nwabali saved Hamza Igamane’s effort, to give Nigeria the upper hand.

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However, Bounou stepped up to deny Chukwueze, before Eliesse Ben Seghir and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru scored for either side. Achraf Hakimi then stepped up to make it 3-2. Bounou then turned the hero after he saved Onyemaechi’s kick.

En-Nesyri was left with the honours of taking Morocco to the final, and he did it with a superbly taken penalty sending Nwabali the wrong way.

Speaking after the game, Regragui touched on their final meeting against the Lions of Teranga, who reached the stage after defeating Egypt 1-0 in their other quarter-final fixture at the Grand Stade of Tangier.

 “It’s a superb final with the best African teams of the last three years. A fantastic team and a golden people, brothers of Morocco. It’s a superb match-up,” said Regragui. “We have three days to recover. It’s a fifty-to-fifty tie. It’s the first time we’ve faced them in a final.”

Discussing their victory against Nigeria, he said: “They’re an athletic team, they ran a lot. But they had two shots, one of which was on target. It just goes to show, we’ve been talking about the defense for three years now.”

He added: “We closed down the angles of positioning, the transitions. It was tough, I won’t lie. What interests me is self-esteem. It can be perceived as arrogance. I don’t expect people to give me anything.

 “No one can erase what I’ve done before. The most important thing is that Morocco is in the final. I need to focus on bringing it home together.”

Regragui continued: “What matters to us is celebrating tonight, but we’re preparing for Sunday starting tomorrow. Well done to the medical staff who never stop. Today is a victory for everyone. Recovery will begin so that we are ready mentally and physically.”

Regragui, however, admitted Morocco must improve in some areas if they are to be crowned AFCON champions on Sunday.

“We came up against a very solid team. We still have room for improvement. We have a fighting spirit, a desire to play for the jersey. It has always been my objective to instil that,” explained Regragui.

He concluded: “We need to change our DNA. We need to get used to playing in the semifinals. The more consistent we are, the more titles we can win.”

The final against the Super Eagles will be played at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, in Rabat, on Sunday.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui has poured cold water on conspiracy theorists who suggest referees have been favouring the home team at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Some broadcast pundits and supporters online have bemoaned a perceived leniency towards Morocco from the tournament officials. Regragui dismissed the claims out of hand.

“It’s always a shame to go down this path,” he told  his press conference as Morocco prepared to take on Nigeria in their semi-final in Rabat today.

“They want to make people believe that matches are always won this way. Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s always been the case on the African continent to sow doubts and controversies.

“You journalists need to do your job,” he added. “A penalty can be given one way in one match and not in another. A handball is called in one match and not in another. I watch a lot of matches because we have many players in Europe, and the controversies are the same everywhere, in Africa or in Europe.”

Regragui said he believed referees at the tournament were seeking to do their best, but also gave example of incidents in matches where he felt the whistle did not favour Morocco.

He cited two incidents from their impressive 2-0 win over Cameroon in their quarter-final on Friday to illustrate his argument.

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“One of their defenders puts his foot on Abde (Ezzalzouli)’s ankle, and if VAR reviews the play, it’s a penalty,” he said. “The goalkeeper comes out to challenge (Ismael) Saibari and puts both hands in his head, that’s a penalty. But neither were given.”

Regragui said he had told his players to ignore any refereeing controversy.

“The only way to win is on the pitch, by winning our matches. You’ve never heard me talk about the refereeing after a match,” he said.

“We take responsibility, we move forward, and we work hard. That’s the goal. We need to support the referees, the players, and stop always feeling like we’re being wronged.

“We hope the referee will be fair to both teams tomorrow, as he has been since the start of the competition,” the coach added.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui hailed a “historic” achievement in seeing his side reach the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday, but warned that the hosts have not yet achieved anything at the tournament.

 “We need to just keep going one game at a time. We have not done anything yet,” Regragui insisted after the Atlas Lions beat Cameroon 2-0 in the quarter-final in Rabat thanks to goals either side of half-time from Brahim Diaz and Ismael Saibari.

Morocco, World Cup semi-finalists in 2022, set the tone with a superb first-half performance at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, and Cameroon never really looked like recovering after Diaz opened the scoring in the 26^th  minute.

 “It was our best first-half performance I think since the World Cup, with lots of pressing and intensity,” Regragui said.

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 “I think we deserved the win even though things evened out a bit in the second half.”

Morocco are through to the semi-finals of a Cup of Nations for the first time since 2004, when they lost the final to Tunisia with Regragui in the team.

 “It is historic. Moroccans have not seen their team in the semi-finals of an AFCON for 22 years,” the coach said. “They deserve it but we need to keep our feet on the ground and make it even more historic.”

Meanwhile the coach hailed Diaz, with the Real Madrid winger now on five goals in five games at the tournament.

 “He is the X factor of my team. He has been amazing, scoring in every game. Tonight he sent a message to the rest of the side with the way he ran and fought.”

Five-time champions Cameroon go home but their coach David Pagou – only appointed in the run-up to the competition – expressed pride in his players.

 “We are satisfied with the boys because they have given a lot of emotions to the Cameroonian people and that was the aim,” he said. “We wanted to go as far as possible but this is a team that is progressing and there are millions of Cameroonians who can be pleased.

 “As a coach I will take away a lot of good things from this campaign.”

Morocco coach Walid Regragui has angrily rejected suggestions his team is benefitting from favourable refereeing decisions as the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) host.

“We’re the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will try to find all sorts of reasons to say Morocco has an advantage,” Regragui said after his team’s 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals Friday.

“The only advantage that Morocco has at this Africa Cup is playing in front of 65,000 spectators. The rest is on the field, we speak on the field.”

On the field, however, Cameroon might have had two penalties if experienced referee Dahane Beida hadn’t decided in favour of the home team.

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Morocco defender Adam Masina was involved in both, appearing to catch Bryan Mbuemo’s right boot after missing the ball when Cameroon was trying to level the match, then, in the final minutes, appearing to strike Etta Eyong’s head with his elbow in the penalty area.

Beida, who refereed the final at the last edition, also decided not to show Bilal El Khannouss a second yellow card for stopping Danny Namaso on a counterattack shortly before Ismael Saibari wrapped up the win.

“Many people want to believe or make others believe that we have advantages from the referees. Personally, I saw penalties that could have been awarded to us. As for the referees, I never talk about the referee,” Regragui said.