In an effort to reach their first World Cup quarterfinal, Morocco coach Walid Regragui has urged his players to believe they can defeat Spanish powerhouse Spain.
After winning Group F and defeating Belgium and Canada in Qatar, the north African team advanced ahead of 2018 runners-up Croatia to the last 16 for only the second time.
The game will be extremely challenging for us. One of the world’s best footballing nations is up against us. I believe they’re one of the top choices to arrive at the last,” Regragui said on Monday.
Having said that, we also have a few surprises in store. We have one more rest day than they have, so we are going to try to pull a surprise.
“I think this will be a wonderful surprise not only for us but for our country if we are able to send Spain packing,”
Morocco missed out on a historic victory at the 2018 World Cup when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Spain, who scored a last-minute equalizer.
We have no vengeance at all. Regragui, who was appointed in August, stated, “We are not looking at what happened in the past.”
“The Moroccan team’s mentality needs to change now that we have a new generation. The old Morocco had all the bad things, but we’ve changed. Our nation has changed.
For the game on Tuesday at Education City Stadium, Morocco, the sole Arab nation and last African team in Qatar, will have thousands of enthusiastic supporters.
We’ll attack from the front. We need to lift the Moroccan banner far as high as possible. Regragui stated, “We’re playing for us and our country first and foremost.”
We want to make all Arabs and Africans happy. We need their prayers and support in order to have that extra edge we need to win. Before, we were only supported by Moroccans.
If Morocco defeated the 2010 champions, they would become the fourth African team to reach the quarterfinals, joining Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010.
In 1986, Morocco’s only previous appearance in the round of 16 was a 1-0 defeat to eventual runners-up West Germany.
Regragui stated, “I don’t think we should go out with any kind of complex.”
Although we are the underdog, we are aware of what makes Spain great, and the recipe is simple. We should not be concerned, have no regrets, and give our best effort.