The Moroccan Football Federation still has confidence in head coach Walid Regragui despite the country’s early elimination in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
The FRMF said in a statement that it would provide him with all the means to ensure the national team’s full success.
After finishing top of their group with two wins and a draw, however, the Atlas Lions lost 2-0 to South Africa in the round of 16.
The statement noted that a series of assessment meetings were held between the chairman of the FRMF, Fouzi Lejkaa, and the coach to evaluate the performance during the Africa Cup of Nations.
Lekjaa insisted on the need to continue the work to give Moroccan football the place it deserves and to prepare for the forthcoming competitions, including the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and the 2025 Cup On Nations, which the nation is scheduled to host.
Meanwhile, Angola head coach Pedro Gonçalves has expressed his excitement over his side’s performance despite their exit in the quarter-finals.
After losing to Nigeria, Gonçalves made no secret of his admiration for the system his opponents had put in place to defeat them.
“I’d like to congratulate the Nigerian team. They’re very strong and the coach has put in place a solid system. They deserved the victory,” he said.
The Palancas Negras boss added: “I think we could have won. We fought for the whole 90 minutes. We felt sorry for ourselves after conceding the goal, we were to have a good impact, we had chances to score but we didn’t take them,”
This was Angola’s third quarter-final appearance in the competition. They had not reached this stage of the tournament since 2010 when they hosted.
Advancing to this level of the competition was already a success for Gonçalves and his players, who defied all the odds by leading Group ‘D’ ahead of Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Algeria.
“I feel I have succeeded in my mission with the Angolan national team. I am aware of the work I have done with my team, nobody expected Angola to reach the quarter-finals,” he concluded.
With nine goals, Angola exited the tournament as one of the countries with the best attack and their striker, Gelson Dala is the competition’s second-highest goalscorer with four goals.
