Belgian-Moroccan Coach Leads Rwandan Team to National Championship Victory

From Belgium to Morocco via Ghana, the coach ended his journey by lifting the national championship trophy in Rwanda as head coach of APR FC, a transformed team with, according to him, "80% of the best players in the country" and young people with high potential.

For Errati, the team in Kigali is correct with a well-organized logistics. His luck was to fall into a historic club in Rwanda and linked to the army. "I integrated very well. I was never considered a foreigner. I was surprised by the mentality that made me think a bit of Europe. There is a lot of respect and the players have an exemplary mentality."

However, the level of play still needed to be improved. "Football is starting to be structured... I managed to put in place a more modern football with more possession," says the coach who exported Belgian methods to adapt them to a particular context. "I put a Belgian touch in the game, but I first had to find out how to manage the group. I gained the respect of the players... I made them change their mentality," he is pleased.

Born in Morocco, Erradi has been away from Belgium since 2015. He trained as a coach at the Belgian federation. "I first coached the young people of Crossing Schaerbeek before going to Brussels. White Star was my last Belgian club where I learned a lot about the world of football. I went back to Morocco. Disgusted with football in Belgium."

Arrived in the Ghanaian D1, Errati "was general manager and coach at the same time. They had promised me that the team was on point, but I didn’t feel good there. I only stayed for six months."

He then found himself at Raja Casablanca, as an assistant to Juan-Carlos Garrido, former coach of Club Bruges, specifies La Dernière Heure. "My relationship with him was tense despite a good start. He found me too close to the players and asked the president that I leave the club," says the Belgian coach.

"I understood that he didn’t like me to overshadow him... I was technical director, but I was particularly involved in training. We won the national title," says Errati, who adds that his future seems to be in Africa.

"If I continue with Rwanda, it’s to go at least to the group stage of a continental competition. Without this kind of result, Rwanda will not evolve in the world of football," says the coach.

But one person could bring him back to Europe: Mo Ouahbi, his friend and trainer at Anderlecht. "My dream is to work with him. He helped me so much throughout my career. If Mo has something for me, I’ll come back without hesitation," he concludes.