Walid Regragui interview: Morocco’s large AFCON expectations, the World Cup rebuild and his evolution as a coach

It was Argentina’s World Cup in Qatar however earlier than Lionel Messi’s magic second, the opposite crew to gentle up the match was Morocco. They grew to become the primary ever African crew to succeed in the semi-finals, eliminating European heavyweights alongside the way in which.

In doing so, Morocco have been extra than simply profitable, they have been an emblem, an inspiration. Their mixture of defensive organisation with astonishing depth made them tough to play not to mention beat. All the extra outstanding given the preparation time.

Walid Regragui was the coach who made it occur however had solely taken cost of his first sport lower than two months previous to the World Cup. The pace with which he galvanised that group of gamers was outstanding and a testomony to his teaching talents.

“We had only a few months to quickly refocus the players, get them to adapt to the system that I wanted to implement, and get them to buy into it,” Regragui tells Sky Sports. “I am very happy they accepted. We showed the true face of this national team.”

It modified lives. “Many players’ status changed – and Moroccan football as well.” They gained extra matches that month than that they had in each earlier World Cup mixed. “It brought enormous global media impact,” he says. “Managing success was not easy.”

The value was paid on the subsequent Africa Cup of Nations match in 2023 when Morocco have been surprisingly eradicated by South Africa. “It forced us to think about the future. We had to rejuvenate the squad, thinking about the short and long-term goals.”

Building a brand new crew for AFCON

Now, underneath Regragui, Morocco will host this month’s AFCON match on the longest successful streak within the historical past of males’s worldwide soccer. Having damaged Spain’s report of 15 video games towards Congo, the run now stands at 18 video games. It is a brand new crew.

In a way, it’s a legacy of Regragui’s work in Qatar, though it additionally displays the promise of what’s to return. Morocco have certified for subsequent summer time’s World Cup and are among the many hosts of the one after that. It helps persuade gamers to decide on them.

“It is much easier when you offer them the chance to join a World Cup semi-finalist with the opportunity to play in the next two World Cups.” There is Eliesse Ben Seghir of Bayer Leverkusen, solely 20 years previous. Bilal El Khannouss, now enjoying for Stuttgart, continues to be simply 21.

Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid has switched allegiance from Spain. Roma’s Neil El Aynaoui and Sunderland’s Chemsdine Talbi, born in France and Belgium respectively, are on board. Barcelona-born Ismael Saibari, PSV’s high scorer, has made a big effect.

“All those I tried to bring in after the World Cup,” Regragui explains. Some had a style of it within the 2024 Olympics. Others have been added. “We are very happy to have brought in very young players like Talbi. And today, for the moment, the results are following.”

The problem of counting on a youthful group is to search out consistency and take care of the unprecedented stress that may engulf Morocco at this match. It is that weight of expectation, much more than the opposition, that’s in Regragui’s ideas proper now.

Coping with stress and expectation

Morocco haven’t gained an AFCON match in nearly 50 years. “It is a competition that has not brought us much success,” he concedes. Indeed, he was a participant once they final reached the ultimate, edged out 2-1 by Tunisia in Tunis within the 2004 last.

“I know how difficult it is for our country to perform in these competitions. Is it mental? Is it adapting to the style of play? There have been many questions that we are trying to resolve and progress through over time in order to fix this situation,” he explains.

Ultimately, nevertheless, there is no such thing as a escaping the reality of the scenario. Morocco expects. “The pressure and the responsibility are enormous. It is a truly passionate country. And when we talk about passion, there are emotions that become hard to manage,” he provides.

“The public has been waiting for so long that they cannot stop thinking about it. As a coach, you understand the responsibility. Every day, in the street, wherever we are in Morocco, there isn’t a single person who doesn’t tell me that we absolutely must win it.”

How is he coping with that? By taking all that stress on his shoulders. “I try above all to protect the players so they do not feel it. Because if they are affected by it then it becomes even more difficult to play with freedom – and that is the last thing we want.”

He continues: “Putting myself in the spotlight with the press is often complicated but it is one of the methods, a way of putting the focus all on me, of taking responsibility. I prefer people to criticise me rather than criticise my players – no one touches them.”

Regragui’s teaching evolution

Regragui’s teaching journey started as an assistant with the nationwide crew aged 37. “That allowed me to cut my teeth and learn quickly.” Five years at FUS Rabat adopted. “A club that allowed me to work,” he says. “That is very rare in the Moroccan league.”

In Rabat, he was “able to win titles, test numerous playing systems and tactical ideas, promote young players and toughen up and grow” earlier than including totally different experiences with Al-Duhail in Qatar. There, he gained the title and labored with big-name gamers.

The former Bayern Munich and Juventus duo Mario Mandzukic and Medhi Benatia have been amongst those who he discovered from. “That helped me to quickly learn how to manage experienced players, players who had competed at a very, very high level,” he says.

Back in Morocco, at Wydad Casablanca, got here the best achievement of his profession in membership administration. Regragui took them to Champions League success in 2022, beating Al Ahly in entrance of 80,000 supporters within the last. That earned him the Morocco job.

“It was a challenge that I had set myself. It was not an easy challenge, one of the toughest, but I succeeded. It also helped me grow in terms of handling the popular pressure of a legendary club, with the daily obligation to win every match.”

His teaching concepts have advanced alongside the way in which. Initially, like so many others, he was impressed by Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa. “Legends in coaching due to their thinking and their style of play.” But the practicalities of the job required compromise.

“Once you have a team in place, you quickly realise that you are dependent on the resources and the players available. Naturally, I evolved according to the players I had and what I could implement. I think I have become more of a chameleon coach.”

That was obvious in Qatar when Morocco knocked out Spain with 23 per cent of possession and Portugal with 27 per cent of it. “We more of a counter-attacking team, with a very solid, compact block and a lot of intensity in tight areas,” says Regragui.

“That was not really my style at the beginning of my career, but I knew it was the only way to make a good run at the World Cup at that moment, given the little time we had. So I had to adapt. A coach must be flexible and adapt in order to become a top coach.

“After the World Cup, we naturally advanced with the gamers who joined us, the standard of the squad, and the truth that we have been now dealing with groups that performed the identical type that I used on the World Cup. Today, we’re extra of a possession-based, proactive crew.

“My wish is to have the ball but play at a high tempo, with as few touches as possible, to create overloads against the opponent. And when we lose the ball, to be a pressing and counter-pressing team, preventing the opponent from causing us problems.

“I have not actually modified our primary enjoying system, as a result of in soccer, the defensive system is what really defines form. When attacking, the system means little or no, as a result of I give my gamers freedom to maneuver, to create totally different offensive constructions.”

It is tricky to find those patterns in international football. “We need to rebuild every thing every time with totally different gamers, totally different partnerships. Players should shortly grasp concept.” But Regragui remains unbeaten on home soil. Hence those huge expectations.

The hope is that Paris Saint-Germain full-back Achraf Hakimi will be fully fit before the tournament is in full swing and be the player lifting the trophy at the end of it. For Regragui, the aim now is to view all this as a moment to embrace rather than fear.

“I see it as an important alternative for me and for my gamers to enter historical past,” he concludes. “It motivates me, it challenges me, it retains me targeted on each element.” Eclipsing that World Cup shall be robust. But glory for Morocco in Rabat subsequent month would absolutely do it.