Morocco earned an important point (0-0) against Croatia in their first World Cup match. This Sunday, November 27, the Atlas Lions will try to improve on it against Belgium in a game they approach with great confidence. For their coach, it will be necessary to better exploit the offensive actions in order to get the three points.
For the Atlas Lions, confidence comes from playing against the big boys. After the successful test against Croatia (0-0), Walid Regragui's protégés will challenge Belgium, the other giant of Group F of the 2022 World Cup, on Sunday 27 November. A tricky match for the Belgians awaited with bated breath by the highly motivated Moroccans. Four players in Regragui's squad were born in Belgium (Ilyas Chair, Selim Amallah, Bilal El Khannous and Anass Zarzoury). The last two have played for the Red Devils in the youth teams, before choosing their country of origin.
In a pre-match conference on Saturday, November 26, the Moroccan coach gave an idea of the face that should be displayed by the Atlas Lions against the Belgians.
"The important thing is not to lose against Belgium. We must play to win," said Walid Regregui. Our mission now is to create the surprise and achieve what we have not been able to for a long time with our intelligence and with the resources we have. It's only mental."
At times, the Moroccans did indeed show that they could push Croatia around, but a lack of offensive daring was a drag in the first game. Against Belgium, Regragui hopes that his team will do a better job of exploiting offensive actions to get the three points, especially since the Red Devils proved to be a handful against the valiant Canadians.
"Be more aggressive in attack"
"Every game is different, every game has its truth... We have to be more aggressive up front, we have to be more powerful and more dangerous," said the 47-year-old coach. The Moroccans lacked dynamism in attack against Croatia despite the few favorable situations of play. Neither En-Neysri, nor Hamdallah, nor Boufal were able to take advantage of some favorable situations. A defect to be corrected against the Belgians who showed themselves friable in defense against the Canadians.
The coach of the Atlas Lions has also called the fans to be united behind the team. "We are in the Group of Death, my job is to give confidence to the Moroccan people," he said, calling not to doubt the team, but to give it more confidence, "because it already has as many points as in its three Group games during the 2018 World Cup in Russia."
To seek the three points, Regragui relies on the mentality displayed by his group since his arrival on the bench. "We must maintain the winning mentality," he told reporters.
Hakimi and Mazraoui fit
The Moroccans were worried about the possible absence of the two fullbacks Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui. However, the Moroccan technician remains quite confident. "For me Achraf Hakimi and Mazraoui are fit to play the game against Belgium, but I will see if I will take the risk or not in consultation with the staff, "he said.
In their absence, Yahya Attiat Allah could take the left flank, but it will be complicated for the coach to find a defender able to replace Hakimi on the right.
Morocco and Belgium have already met in the group stage of a World Cup, in 1994. The Atlas Lions lost on the smallest of marks. The two teams have played two friendly matches with a Belgian victory (4-0) and a Moroccan (4-1).
