Morocco coach Walid Regragui stated he needs his workforce to interrupt “the curse of the African Cup” as he named his 27-man squad for subsequent month’s Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.
It is 47 years since Morocco final received the continental competitors, however after reaching the semifinals of the World Cup in Qatar final 12 months, it’s now one of many favourites to win the title in Ivory Coast.
“The more African competitions take place, the further away we get from the date when we won it,” stated Regragui.
“But that’s no reason to put pressure on ourselves. We’re going to go there to play our football, to give it the maximum, and, above all, not to have regrets.”
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Since successful the cup in 1976, Morocco has solely reached the ultimate as soon as, in 2004 when it misplaced to host Tunisia.
At the final version in Cameroon in 2022, it misplaced to Egypt within the quarterfinals.
“What is important is the state of mind,” stated Regragui.
“We must go there with complete confidence to overcome the curse of the African Cup.”
Regragui has retained the majority of his World Cup squad, who beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal earlier than falling to a 2-0 defeat by France within the semis, together with Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri and Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.
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But he has additionally introduced in youthful abilities — for “good balance between the present and the future”, he stated — equivalent to PSV’s Ismael Saibari and Real Betis defender Chadi Riad, who received this 12 months’s Under-23 AFCON.
The Atlas Lions will face DR Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia within the group levels when the event will get underway on January 13.
Morocco Squad
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal/KSA), Mounir El Kajoui (Al-Wehda/KSA), El Mehdi Benabid (AS FAR)
Defenders: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Mohamed Chibi (Pyramids/EGY), Abdelkabir Abqar (Deportivo Alaves/ESP), Romain Saiss (Al-Shabab/KSA), Nayef Aguerd (West Ham/ENG), Yunis Abdelhamid (Rennes/FRA), Chadi Riad (Real Betis/ESP), Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich/GER), Yahia Attiat Allah (Wydad Casablanca)
Midfielders: Bilal El Khannouss (Genk/BEL), Azzeddine Ounahi (Marseille/FRA), Oussama El Azzouzi (Bologna/ITA), Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United/ENG), Selim Amallah (Valencia/ESP), Amir Richardson (Reims/FRA), Hakim Ziyech (Galatasaray/TUR), Amine Harit (Marseille/FRA), Sofiane Boufal (Al-Rayyan)
Forwards: Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Amine Adli (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos/GRE), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla/ESP), Tarik Tissoudali (Gent/BEL), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis/ESP)
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com