The Moroccan national team’s 2–0 victory over the Comoros on Sunday night at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), was “fully deserved,” despite a difficult encounter, national team head coach Walid Regragui said.
The Moroccan national team’s 2–0 victory over the Comoros on Sunday night at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), was “fully deserved,” despite a difficult encounter, national team head coach Walid Regragui said.
“The opening match is always difficult for the host nation. There was a lot of pressure. We’ve been preparing for this AFCON for two years. This win is beneficial for us and for the fans. We will keep improving,” Regragui stressed during the post-match press conference.
“We corrected our mistakes in the second half. We knew the Comoros would crack after suffering so much,” he explained, describing El Kaabi’s goal as “extraordinary.”
“We played with our qualities and our mentality. We stayed focused even though we struggled in the first half,” he added, noting that the Comorian team will cause problems for other opponents as well.
Regarding the injury-related substitution of captain Ghanem Saïss, the national coach said: “Ghanem felt pain in his knee. We hope it’s not serious so that we can recover him during this competition. He’s an experienced player. It’s a blow for the team, but we have to manage absences and injuries.”
According to Regragui, substitutes often have more success in front of goal, as was the case with El Kaabi. He explained that he chose to start Sofiane Rahimi to bring more dynamism to the attacking line.
“These are the same scenarios as in our previous matches, with an opponent that sits deep but has to expend a lot of energy,” Regragui added, stressing that the Comoros have a good team.
“The match against Mali, who have very high-level players, will be very difficult,” he said. “It will be a real test for us as well as for them.”
