Morocco drew their opening game 0-0 with Croatia, and head coach Walid Regragui was pleased with his side’s organisation and defensive grit.
“We came across a great team, they have technical quality above the average, we tried to be a unit, to create problems for them, we were a little too respectful of them at times, but it’s a good result against the vice-world champion and that must that motivate us for the future,” he said.
“I’m happy for the score we must not forget that the opposing team was stronger than us, we made a lot of mistakes and we will work on that. Saudi Arabia won their match with 30% possession”.
Whilst the defensive performance was solid, Regragui was frustrated that his players were unable to capitalise on the attacking chances that they were provided with.
“We are still in the race [qualification]. But it’s a shame, the few opportunities we had, we didn’t materialize them. Now we have 4 days to work and recover”. he added.
Morocco came closest when Noussair Mazraoui followed in a deflected shot and saw a back-post header saved. Achraf Hakimi also tested Dominik Livakovic, but the Croatia keeper dealt with his 35-yard strike with ease.
