Morocco coach dreams of winning the World Cup

"We can dream. Why don't we dream about winning the World Cup? You don't lose anything to have such a dream," Regragui said after the historic win at Al Thumama.

The 47-year-old coach is confident Morocco can stand up to the top teams. "Any team facing Morocco right now will have to be in top form to beat us. It won't be easy for them. That's the message we want to send to the opponents," Regragui added. .

Yesterday, Morocco beat Portugal thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri's high header at the end of the first half. The African representative had an even stronger victory, but Zakaria Aboukhlal's tire failed to beat goalkeeper Diego Costa in the face-to-face position in the sixth minute.

Lowering Spain in the penalty shootout in the 1/8 round, Morocco made a miracle when it became the fourth African country and the first Arab country to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup. But now they go a step further than Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.

Regragui compared the students to the legendary character Rocky Balboa played by actor Sylvester Stallone in the boxing series "Rocky". "When watching Rocky, you want to support Rocky Balboa because of the hard work and determination of this character. In my opinion, Morocco is the Rocky Balboa of the 2022 World Cup," he emphasized.

After Croatia, Belgium, Canada in the group stage and Spain in the 1/8 round, Portugal is the next team at the 2022 World Cup that cannot score against the army under Walid Regragui. Morocco has only conceded a goal since the beginning of the tournament, but it was an own goal by midfielder Nayef Aguerd in the 2-1 win over Canada.

According to Regragui, Morocco won the hearts of the majority of fans thanks to a performance of desire, determination and confidence, although it did not have as many talents as other candidates. "I'm sure many people will say this is a miracle, but Morocco won against Belgium, Spain, Portugal without conceding a goal. It was the result of hard work," he said.

Against Portugal, Morocco did not have the strongest force without defenders Noussair Mazraoui and Nayef Aguerd due to injuries, and captain Romain Saiss left the field on a stretcher at the beginning of the second half. "We are proud of the players who played great," praised Regragui. "Morocco is a team with 26 players and to go far in the World Cup we will need them all."

Meanwhile, Sofiane Boufal, a winger who played for Southampton between 2016 and 2020, said: "It's crazy. We are living a dream and don't want to wake up. I have goosebumps. "I deserve it. We've worked hard and it's not over yet. There's still the semi-final and hopefully the final."