‘With these players and these fans, anything is possible’- says Morocco coach

Morocco has demolished number two in FIFA global ranking, Belgium, making its first win in a World Cup since 1998, much to the delight of millions of Moroccans and thousands of fans who cheered non-stop for the Atlas Lions.

“We played against one of the best teams in the world with big players, but we know that if you don’t give 100%, it is impossible to win. With these players and these fans, anything is possible,” Walid Regragui told the press after the 2-0 win against Belgium.

Substitutes Sabiri and Aboukhlal scored Morocco’s two goals in the second half after Ziyech goal in the first half was annulled as an offside using the VAR.

Most of the fans -or 43,000 people- in the stadiums wore colours of the national squad and sang the national anthem out loud making players feel as if they are playing in Casablanca or Marrakech.

“I know everyone is delighted but I know football and you need to respect the game. I want everybody to be happy now but we need to recover quickly and get back to work. Canada will be a hard team to play and we have to respect them,” Walid Regragui said.

Morocco could make it to the knock-out stage with a draw only with Canada as it shares the leadership within group F together with Croatia which crushed Canada 4-1.

In Moroccan cities, streets were bustling with fans sharing the joy of this hard-won but well-deserved win. The celebrations were shared by most of Africa and the Arab World which now pins most hopes on the Atlas Lions to make it to the next stage and outperform their achievement in 1986.