Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has said it would be great for their national pride to defeat five-time World Cup winners Brazil in an international friendly. Morocco are set to host Brazil at the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier.
By India Today Web Desk: Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has said it would be great for their national pride to defeat five-time World Cup winners Brazil in an international friendly. Morocco are set to host Brazil at the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier.
Speaking ahead of the game, Regragui said they won’t change their identity against Brazil, while emphasizing that they can take risks that they could not afford during the World Cup. Morocco lost 2-0 against France to be eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“Against Brazil we can’t change our identity, pretend to be something who we are not, but we can take more risks that we could not afford to take in the World Cup. Any mistake in the World Cup could be costly. On Saturday it’s a friendly game and perhaps we could be more daring and try different things that we could not do in a World Cup match,” said Regruagui.
The Morocco coach said the home crowd during the match would act as a 12th player for his side, adding that it would be great for Morocco’s national pride to win against Brazil. The match will be attended by 65,000 supporters who are still pumped after their amazing run in the 2022 World Cup.
“Our crowd will be our 12th player. It would be great for our national pride to win against Brazil for the first time and we will go out there with a big smile on our faces to meet our loyal fans that were so great during our World Cup run,” Regragui added.
Morocco captain Romain Saiss said there is no party with a defeat, so they will look to play well and win the game against Brazil.
“It’s going to be more than a great match against one of the best teams in the world. It’s going to be a celebration of our accomplishments but there is no party with a defeat. We want to celebrate with our fans and for that celebration to be complete we need to play well and win the game,” said Saiss.