The Moroccan national football team landed early this morning in the South African city of Johannesburg, where an AFCON qualifier match awaits them against the South African host on June 17.
According to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), the national team’s journey lasted 9 hours and 30 minutes, from Rabat-Sale Airport to Johannesburg in South Africa.
The Moroccan national squad is expected to do their first training session in Johannesburg this evening, while their second training session will be tomorrow evening before meeting their South African rival on June 17 at 4:00 p.m. Moroccan time, at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
Morocco already qualified for the 2024 AFCON, which will take place in Cote d’Ivoire next year in January.
Morocco is in “Group K” along with South Africa, Liberia, and Zimbabwe. The Atlas Lions are leading Group K, with six points after two wins against Liberia and South Africa.
Zimbabwe, which was initially drawn in Group K, was disqualified by FIFA from playing in the qualifiers due to the Zimbabwean government’s interference in the affairs of the country’s football league.
Morocco played a friendly match against Cape Verde on Monday, which ended in a 0-0 draw. The match took place in the Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat and was part of the preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier game against South Africa.
According to Moroccan national coach Walid Regragui, his team can still do better despite the goalless game against Cape Verde.
Regragui held an optimistic vision, eyeing AFCON’s success, but at the same time acknowledged the challenges the team faced during the friendly game.
For him, the draw against Cape Verde is in itself a way to assess the team’s performance and make improvements before future matches.
“Our match today was undoubtedly difficult, and despite the changes we made, we struggled to find effective solutions,” said Regragui at the post-match press conference.
Hence, the head coach called for a high-level performance from the players in the forthcoming matches.
