By Manasi Pathak
AL RAYYAN, Qatar (Reuters) – Morocco coach Walid Regragui warned the Belgian-born players in his squad to stay focused when they face Roberto Martínez’s men at the World Cup in Qatar on Sunday, warning them who run the risk of making costly mistakes if they get emotional at a “special” moment.
Morocco, ranked 22nd by FIFA, have four players born in Belgium in their squad: midfielder Selim Amallah and striker Ilias Chair were born there, while midfielder Bilal El Khannouss and attacking midfielder Anass Zaroury defended Belgium in the junior categories before opting for Morocco in the professional.
“For anyone with dual nationality… there is a special emotion and that is a positive energy that you have to take advantage of,” Regragui told reporters on Saturday.
“But it is a match we need to win. We have to focus on that.”
“We know this is a special match for them, but we have to put it in context. You can’t get too emotional, because this can lead you to make mistakes. And that can be very expensive for us”, he warned.
Regragui, who took over at Morocco in September after Vahid Halilhodzic was sacked, said the team were looking forward to pulling off a surprise surprise against giants Belgium in World Cup Group F, which he calls “the group of death”.
Morocco is tied with Croatia at one point on the leaderboard, with Belgium leading on three points and Canada bottom on zero.
“Belgium are favourites, they have outstanding players and an excellent coach. They have great players, even on the bench. They have experience… it will be a difficult game”, said the 47-year-old coach.
Regragui said a goalless draw with Croatia on their opener would help them play in a relaxed manner against Belgium and that they were not afraid to take risks.
“We can give Belgium problems in midfield and technically we need to be much better… we need to keep possession and create chances and if we do that we will keep Belgium under pressure,” he said.
But Regragui has to deal with fitness issues in his squad, with defender Noussair Mazraoui a doubt after leaving the field on a stretcher during the Croatia match with a hip injury.
“He’s out for now but I hope he’ll be back for tomorrow,” said Regragui. “Mazraoui and Achraf (Hakimi) and other players including the captain (Roman Saiss) have some fitness issues but I hope they will come back.”
“We have three games in this group stage and we hope to go beyond that, and we have to try to do that without risking injuries. We will decide tomorrow if we can start with them, but they are ready.”
Morocco beat Belgium 4-1 the last time the teams met in a friendly in 2008.
((Translation Editorial São Paulo))
REUTERS
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