Morocco national team coach Mohamed Ouahbi has said the 1-1 FIFA World Cup draw against Brazil was another sign that his team is capable of pushing deep into the tournament.
In New York on Saturday, the Atlas Lions showed that their historic achievement in Qatar may not represent the peak of their journey, but rather the foundation for something even greater.
Their impressive 1-1 draw against five-time world champions Brazil was not celebrated as an upset. Instead, it felt like the performance of a team that now expects to compete with football’s traditional powers.
Morocco stuck to their principles
“We stuck to our principles. We had to play our game and play it well, and we were satisfied with that,” Ouahbi said in his post-match press conference.
“It would have been nice to win, but I’m not disappointed with the result.”
The Morocco coach believes the current generation should not be measured solely against the achievements of 2022.
“If you offered me another semi-final like we managed in 2022, I’d tell you that I want to go further. It was a good game. It would have been nice to get more than a point out of it, but we’ll take this, and we’ll push on with our next match.”
Morocco unsettled Brazil from the opening whistle, pressing aggressively, winning key midfield battles and launching rapid counter-attacks whenever opportunities appeared.
Ouahbi reserved special praise for several of his emerging stars, underlining the depth that is developing within Moroccan football.
“Ayyoub [Bouaddi] played very well, so did Neil El Aynaoui. I thought that Samir [El Mourabet] gave a great account of himself and [Azzedine] Ounahi put in a great display in the first half, plus there’s more to come from him. We also have [Sofyan] Amrabat, who’s ready to show us what he can do when he’s called on.
“There are also other members of the U-20 World Cup-winning side who didn’t quite make the squad this time. The future of Moroccan football is in very good hands.”
Their organisation frustrated the South Americans and forced them into mistakes rarely seen from a side coached by Carlo Ancelotti.
The Brazilian coach admitted his team struggled to cope with Morocco’s intensity.
“I felt that we started poorly, which is a concern for me,” Ancelotti said. “We lost a lot of duels and couldn’t keep the ball, but we got better in the second half. It was a tricky tie, and Morocco are a strong opponent.”
With group matches against Scotland and Haiti still to come, Morocco’s immediate focus remains qualification for the knockout stages.
