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Walid Regragui praises Morocco’s World Cup performance and discloses who he wants to win the final between Argentina and France.
Morocco boss Walid Regragui has praised his team’s historic performance in Qatar and stated his preference for the winner of the Argentina vs. France World Cup final.
The Atlas Lions, the first country from Africa to play in a World Cup semifinal, had an amazing run cut short on Wednesday night by the defending champions France.
A semi-final clash with World Cup holders France always looked like a tough task but Morocco created several openings after Theo Hernandez’s early goal at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Before France scored the game-winning goal through the substitution Randal Kolo Muani, Jawad El Yamiq’s spectacular overhead kick struck the post, Abderrazak Hamdallah went on a charging run but was unable to get his shot off, and the game remained scoreless.
Although Morocco’s World Cup campaign is ended, they can be extremely proud of their incredible run to the semifinals and depart Qatar as one of the tournament’s high points.
After their World Cup departure, head coach Regragui expressed his satisfaction with his team and disclosed who he will be rooting for on Sunday when Argentina plays France in the title game.
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‘We gave the maximum, that’s the most important thing,’ he said. ‘We have shown the world that football exists in Morocco and that we have great supporters.
‘We had some injuries, we lost Aguerd in the warm-up, Saiss, Mazraoui… but there are no excuses.
‘We paid for the slightest mistake. We didn’t get into the game well, we had too much technical waste in the first half, and the second goal kills us, but that doesn’t take away everything we did before in the tournament.
‘This was one step too far. We had too many players at 60-70% fitness. My players gave everything. They have gone as far as they could. We will support France now.’
Following Brazil’s triumphs in 1958 and 1962, France will become the first team to regain the World Cup if they prevail in Sunday’s championship game at the Lusail Stadium.
But they have to contend with an Argentina team that is trying to win the World Cup for the third time and give Lionel Messi the opportunity to lift the trophy in his final competition.