Morocco National Team head coach Walid Regragui has said his side will not underrate any team in their group at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Regragui, who guided Morocco to their historic FIFA World Cup semifinal in 2022, believes any team can win the AFCON, especially since his in-form side lost to South Africa in the qualifiers when it was least expected.
“In the AFCON today, every team can win this tournament,” he said. “And this also includes South Africa, when we were recently in Johannesburg, we lost to Bafana Bafana.
“Now, there are no easy games in Africa, all the teams are stronger, and for us as Morocco, we will try to do our best, just like in the World Cup, to win this competition.
“But I still maintain that a number of teams are still dark horses to win this AFCON tournament,” Regragui told reporters during a pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s friendly match with Ivory Coast tomorrow in reaction to Thursday’s draw.
Morocco has not won the AFCON since 1976 and will be hoping to win it next year.
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The Atlas Lions have been drawn into Group F alongside 2012 champions Zambia, who will be making a return to the showpiece after missing the last three editions. Others in the group are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.
On his Group F opponents, Regragui said he will be studying them before the tournament next January.
“We need to study our opponents carefully and understand their strengths and weaknesses. This is a competition where attention to detail could be the deciding factor between victory and defeat.”
