In a daring move just three months before the 2022 World Cup, Walid Regragui acknowledges the high stakes involved in accepting the coaching role for Morocco, but now he’s set his sights on etching his name in history at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) made the unexpected decision to part ways with Vahid Halilhodzic merely five months after he guided the Atlas Lions to the global showpiece. In his place, they turned to Regragui, fresh off his triumph in leading Wydad Casablanca to victory in the CAF Champions League in May 2022.
Despite the odds, the 48-year-old tactician led the North Africans to a historic semi-final appearance in Qatar, and as the team prepares for the upcoming AFCON in Ivory Coast, they are widely considered as strong contenders for the coveted trophy.
Regragui, born just six months after Morocco’s sole continental title win, is resolute in his ambition to guide the class of 2024 to become the champions of Africa.
Speaking exclusively to CNN, Regragui shed light on the unexpected turn of events that led him to take on the challenge of coaching his homeland. He stated, “I didn’t decide; it happened. I had just won the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League with Wydad AC, so my goal was to play in the Club World Cup, maybe dream of coaching in Europe one day, so it was an evolution of my career. The national team was to come perhaps much later.”
Regragui continued, “Then came the decision at the federation to change coaches. I think today everyone thought it was an easy challenge, but it wasn’t. I think that only a crazy coach like me would accept this job three months before the World Cup. No European coach would’ve taken on the national team, and I don’t think there is a local coach who dared to take on the challenge.”
Expressing his aspirations for AFCON 2023, Regragui emphasized, “We have important goals. In this training center [Mohamed VI Football Complex], there is a photograph of the national team which were the last winners of the African Cup in 1976. Every day when the players come here, they look at the photo and get inspired. My goal as a coach is not to remove this photo but it is to put a new photo of the next winners here.”
