Morocco Stunned by South Africa in Early AFCON Exit, Coach Regragui Takes Responsibility

Walid Regragui did not hide his disappointment after the elimination of the Atlas Lions in the round of 16 against South Africa. "We are very disappointed, we were there to win this competition. Getting out of this tournament so early was not planned, but as we said, this cup is really difficult, there are a lot of surprises, we were warned. We made mistakes that are not like us," he said after the match.

And to add: "I assume responsibility today for the choices. I had said that Morocco had to go at least to the semi-finals... I never hide and we will take our responsibilities, in any case mine. Today, I failed, so we have to assume it."

The coach of the Atlas Lions did not fail to criticize his players for their lack of efficiency. "We can’t afford to miss so many situations. The missed penalty, it happens, it’s football, Achraf would have maybe allowed us to come back into the game, but then when we look at the situations at the end like we gave up, it’s not in the image of our team," continued the Moroccan technician.

While congratulating South Africa, who will face Cape Verde in the quarterfinals, Regragui said the Moroccan team will draw all the lessons from this CAN. "We will think about it. We will think carefully about what we didn’t do well to come back stronger. It’s a group where there are a lot of young people who will learn from this competition."