Walid Regragui praised Morocco for upholding the honour of their nation and of Africa for their incredible run in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The first semi-finalists from Africa in the FIFA World Cup mainly held their themselves against the reigning champions under Didier Deschamps, but they were defeated 2-0 at Al Bayt Stadium.
As a result of their contributions, Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani helped France advance to the final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
After overcoming Belgium, Spain, and Portugal on route to nearly missing out in the last four, Regragui reflected on a remarkable run for not only Morocco but the entire continent.
“We realised we made a great achievement already, we know that the media supported us and on the TV, we saw how proud everyone was,” he said at his post-match press conference.
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“We are disappointed, we wanted to keep the Moroccan people’s dream alive. We are going to have to digest this defeat. We are pleased with what we have achieved, but we felt we could have gone even further.
“The small details help real champions win. We saw this against France, they had a lot of substitutes to make a difference.
“I told the players I am proud of them, the whole of Morocco is proud of them and so is the world. We worked hard; played honest football and that is what we wanted to do.
“We gave a good image of Morocco and Africa, representing our country and our continent. We went as far as we could in the competition and that is great, but we are going to have to do even better in the future.
“We have to do that regularly if we want to be on the footballing map. We may not be as good as Spain, Brazil or England, but I want to qualify for every competition.
“Then, it will become normal for Morocco to be a presence. We have shown Africans we are capable of going toe-to-toe with the best.”
