Morocco head coach Walid Regragui said in his pre-match press conference that the Atlas Lions want not only to beat France tonight in the World Cup semifinal but also to win the competition on Sunday.
After leading Morocco to the semifinals of the tournament by knocking out Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in quarterfinals, becoming the first-ever African team to do so, Regragui is having another dream for the continent.
The former Wydad Casablanca head coach now eyes a win against defending champions France tonight (19:00 GMT) and a potential triumph on Sunday against Argentina.
“We’ll play the way we know how. How possession makes you dream so much! 70% possession to shoot twice on goal? I’m going to tell Infantino to give a point to teams with more than 60% possession,” Regragui joked.
“We are here to win, not to have possession. If they give it to us then fine, we’ll see and we’ll do whatever it takes not to get beat. I don’t think they will let us have possession. Manchester City have 70%, but have you seen the players they have? With Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva you’re going to have the ball.
Read more : Lionel Messi inspires Argentina to World Cup final
“They talk about tiki-taka, when you have players who can do that it’s fine. I know that the Europeans criticise our game. We have to win for Africa, for the countries that are evolving. There is not just one style. Look at France against England, less possession but they won.
“They are the best. The France of 2018 made me dream. Didier Deschamps is the best in the world. I hope France don’t respect us tomorrow. If they do it will be more complicated.
“It’s getting more complicated as it goes on. We are going to play against the champions, with great players and the best coach in the world. We believe we can go through and, why not win the World Cup. We are not tired, I want to make it clear, we are going to run,” Regragui said.
“I have told them that we have come to change the mentality of our continent. We didn’t get here by chance but I told them that we can’t be complacent. We’re confident and we’ve had the most difficult journey. We have been eliminated many times and we are still here. We are going to fight to move forward, for the African countries, for the Arab world. Our country respects all cultures, we are welcoming and sometimes we don’t ask for anything in return,” said Regragui.