Morocco’s Olympic Triumph Exposes Gap in North African Soccer Development

"Unfortunately, our defeat against Morocco is a shame, but it is a realistic shame!!" Mido wrote in a post on X. And he added: "It is a shame that reflects the huge difference between a football school that has begun to lose its identity and a football school that has known how to develop."

The coach explains that Morocco’s exceptional run at the Paris Games is not the result of chance, highlighting the successful reforms of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. Morocco is "a football school that has known how to export players to Europe, that has known how to develop its coaches, that has known how to improve its coaching licenses, that has known how to exploit the skills of its sons with great experience in various fields," he said.

The former Zamalek player continued by calling on the authorities of his country to take inspiration from Morocco. "The Kingdom of Morocco is a country that has men who serve it and a country that has men who serve themselves!! All respect for Morocco and its sons... and we must wake up!!" he concluded.

The Moroccan Olympic team defeated their Egyptian counterpart 6-0 on Thursday at the La Beaujoire stadium in Nantes, winning their first Olympic medal. With this performance, Morocco enters history, becoming the first Arab country to win an Olympic medal in football and the third African country after Ghana in 1992 and Nigeria in 2016.