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Morocco manager Walid Regragui reacts to France’s elimination from the World Cup.
Walid Regragui, the manager of Morocco, has acknowledged that despite his team falling short against France in the World Cup semifinal, their accomplishments in this tournament should not be diminished.
Regragui became the first African coach to get as far as the quarterfinals, and the Atlas Lions became the first African team to reach the World Cup’s last four after defeating two heavyweights in Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds.
However, their hopes of competing in the final on Sunday were shattered by the defending champions France, who defeated them 2-0 with goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani at each end of the game.
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In his post-game interview with the media, Regragui cited many injury setbacks as the reason Morocco wasn’t at their best against France. Still, he also urged people to keep in mind the path they undertook to reach this late stage of the tournament.
“We gave our maximum, that’s the most important thing,” he began. “We had a few injuries, we lost [Nayef] Aguerd in the warm-up, [Romain] Saiss, [Noussair] Mazraoui at half-time…but I have nothing to say, the slightest mistake is paid for in cash.
“We didn’t get into the game well, we were too wasteful technically in the first half, and the second goal killed us, but that doesn’t take away everything we did before.”