Morocco’s coach, Walid Regragui, displayed, on Thursday, the ambition to break “the curse of the African Cup” 45 years after his country’s last coronation, during the presentation of the group participating in the 2024 edition For this competition, the Atlas Lions will rely on the pillars of the team as well as young players.
Breaking “the curse of the African Cup”. This is the objective displayed, Thursday, December 28, by the coach of Morocco, Walid Regragui, when presenting the group which will participate in CAN 2024.
“The more the African competitions progress, the further away we get from the date when we won it but that’s no reason to put pressure on ourselves. We’re going to go there to play our football, to give the maximum and above all so as not to have regrets”, declared the coach of the Atlas Lions during a press conference.
“What is important is the state of mind, we must go there with complete confidence to overcome the curse of the African Cup,” he added.
Morocco has not won the African Cup of Nations since 1976.
But a year after achieving the historic feat of reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar, the Atlas Lions are among the favorites for the CAN, which will take place from January 13 to February 11 in Ivory Coast.
To meet the challenge of the competition, Walid Regragui relies on pillars of the team such as Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Amrabat, Nayef Aguerd, and Achraf Hakimi. It also includes young players like Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven) or Chadi Riad (Real Betis), from the U23 team which won this year’s Under-23 CAN.
“We have a good balance between the present and the future,” commented the coach.
Morocco is in Group F with DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.
The selection of Morocco
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal FC), Mounir El Kajoui (Al-Wehda FC), El Mehdi Benabid (AS FAR)
Defenders: Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Mohamed Chibi (Pyramids FC), Abdelkabir Abqar (Deportivo Alavés), Ghanem Saiss (Al-Shabab), Nayef Aguerd (West Ham United), Yunis Abdelhamid (Stade Rennais FC), Chadi Riad (Real Betis), Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich), Yahya Attiat Allah (Wydad Casablanca)
Midfielders: Bilal El Khannouss (KRC Genk), Azzeddine Ounahi (Olympique de Marseille), Oussama El Azzouzi (Bologna FC), Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United), Selim Amallah (FC Valence), Amir Richardson (Stade de Reims), Hakim Ziyech (Galatasaray SK), Amine Harit (Olympique de Marseille), Sofiane Boufal (Al-Rayyan SC)
Forwards: Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven), Amine Adli (Bayer Leverkusen), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos FC), Youssef En-nesyri (Sevilla FC), Tarik Tissoudali (KAA Gent), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis)
