Following an historic fourth place at the World Cup, Morocco is looking ahead for more success in world football.
Their first challenge: Brazil, this Saturday at the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier, Morocco.
Head coach Walid Regragui is pleased with the friendly match against the five-time World Champions, as he wants “to keep at a good level”, as he said in a news conference on Friday ahead of the match.
“If we want to be at a good level and to achieve important results – especially against big teams like Spain, Portugal or Brazil, like tomorrow’s (Saturday’s, Ed.) match – we must be solid, we must not change our identity. But what’s good is that we can take more risk than at the World Cup. Because at the World Cup, a small fault could result in elimination. On the other hand, we had to win. Tomorrow, even if we make a mistake, it doesn’t matter. We can take the risk because it’s a friendly match, even if the goal is to win”, said Morocco’s head coach.
Brazil’s captain, Casimiro, currently at Manchester United and also a former Real Madrid player was asked about having his former coach Carlo Ancelotti to be one of the preferences of the Brazilian Federation to take over the lead of the five-time World Champions.
“Ancelotti has a club, which is Real Madrid. And we must respect the club where he is now, we must respect Ancelotti. We have a coach here, which is Ramon (Menezes, Ed.).
Even though he’s interim, he’s here to coach us. And we know that, in life, it’s all about the opportunities we have. He’s the interim today but, if he performs well, if the (Brazil FA, Ed.) president does not reach a deal with any of the names he’s thinking of, Ramon is here”, said Casimiro, Brazil and Manchester United midfielder
At this FIFA International break, Brazil will only play a single match, prioritizing the opportunity to have more training sessions.
