Morocco’s World Cup Success Boosts Hopes for Africa Cup Victory, Says Former Football Academy Director

In an interview with Matin TV, Nasser Larguet affirms that the Mohammed VI Academy has contributed to the epic of the Atlas Lions during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. "It was a joy to see our national team reach that level... To see this World Cup make the whole world discover that football exists in Morocco with a lot of quality, it makes us rewind a bit the story to tell ourselves that this Academy was able to participate in this national momentum with four players after only a few years of existence, including three starters and one player per line, and people don’t point that out. There is Youssef En-Nesyri as a striker, Azzedine Ounahi, midfielder, Nayef Aguerd, defender, and Mohamed Reda Tagnaouti, goalkeeper... In Morocco, there is potential, possibilities to develop even more players," he said.

At 12 years old, Nayef Aguerd, a graduate of the Mohammed VI Academy, "had a technical quality that struck me from the start. He was a boy who was able to play 50-60 meters with superb precision and a left foot in addition, which is very elegant. I said to myself, this boy has good technique. I recruited him for that. [...] It’s him who invented himself as a defender because I recruited him as a number 10," explains Nasser. Unlike Aguerd, Azzedine Ounahi who played at Miro Foot in Casablanca, was recruited at 10 years old in the academy’s annex in Casablanca. "He was indeed atypical. He was an instinctive, inspired player. He had a high quality technique. He loved the ball. He loved to dribble and he loved to play. We took him for this freshness. [...] I believe a lot in him, because he has a lot of talent. He showed it in the World Cup," continued the former technical director of the Moroccan Federation.

The current technical director of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation says he is ready to serve Morocco again if called upon. "I am a man of challenge and challenge. If tomorrow my country, Morocco, has new challenges and it needs my skills and [...] calls me for something very specific and something constructive, of course I will be there." Nasser Larguet also highlighted the quality of the Atlas Lions, compared to European teams. "When you take for example Youssef En-Nesyri who plays in Seville and who plays the European Cup, Achraf Hakimi who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and who has won championships... When you put that in the balance, there is no difference. After, what really makes the difference, is always the coach," he observes, stressing that "Walid Regragui today has built something exceptional."

This Moroccan team, a semi-finalist of the 2022 World Cup and which has already participated in several Africa Cups, has the capacity to win the next Africa Cup in Côte d’Ivoire, believes Nasser Larguet. "May the players always come back with this hunger, to say that we are capable of demonstrating that we did not reach the semi-finals by chance. We arrived through our experience, our qualities, our know-how. We have shown that Morocco had know-how, because there are players who were trained in the country. We are talking about dual nationals who are very present, but there is still a backbone: Bounou started football here at Wydad, you also have Aguerd in front of him, then Ounahi... the backbone, it’s a Moroccan know-how! For the Africa Cup, if we don’t get a big head, we have the capacity to do it. We have two players per position who play in major championships, who win titles. For me, it’s quite feasible!" he concluded.