Morocco’s head coach says ‘endurance, perseverance have paid off’

Morocco’s nationwide coach Walid Regragui stated that endurance and perseverance helped the nationwide group obtain outcomes, clinching an excellent win towards Lesotho (7-0) on Monday night in Oujda for the sixth and last matchday of the African Cup of Nations 2025 qualifiers.

“I’d like to congratulate all players. Six wins in as many games is not easy, especially as we scored 26 goals,” Regragui said at Morocco/Lesotho post-match press convention.

“After the last AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, it wasn’t easy for us. We accepted the criticism, put our heads down and kept working. I’m very glad for my players,” he voiced.

“Mindset is essential. The players respected soccer and the opposing team. It was a great evening, especially for the fans,” he continued, noting that the primary half was higher performed than the second, the place the group’s tempo comparatively dropped .

The use of a set-piece specialist helped tremendously, he added, explaining that set-pieces are “weapons to be used in the future”.

Despite the massive scoreline, the nationwide coach made no secret of his considerations concerning the gamers’ incapacity to handle the sport’s highs.

“It’s mindset. We need to avoid technical errors and respect the game”, he enthused, including that there’s a lot of competitors inside the nationwide group.

“Bench players excelled as well, and the list includes others not present today. The choice will be difficult, but the competition is positive. I congratulate the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the technical staff for their work,” he added.

Brahim Diaz, scorer of a hat-trick towards Lesotho, is a “natural leader”, commented Regragui, believing that the Real Madrid striker can simply discover options.

“Brahim can be more effective in the last thirty meters. He’s starting to grow with the team and understand our system,” he continued.

To hope for the subsequent AFCON trophy, the pinnacle coach defined, we should be “united” and “confident”, “hoping to follow suit in the next World Cup qualifiers and earn an early qualification”.

The Atlas Lions beat Lesotho because of a hat-trick from Brahim Diaz (5′, 15′, 42′), two targets by Sofiane Rahimi (37′, 45’+2 penalty) in addition to Youssef En-Nesyri (68′) and Ismael Saibari (70′).

With this win, the nationwide group finishes high of its group with 18 factors from 6 wins, forward of Gabon (10 pts), who already certified for the subsequent AFCON and defeated this night the Central African Republic (1-0).