AFCON: Morocco coach Regragui should ignore criticism – Renard

Former Zambia national team coach Hervé Renard has called on Morocco coach Walid Regragui to focus on delivering the Africa Cup of Nations title to the host nation.

The Atlas Lions will face the Lions of Teranga seeking at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Sunday, seeking to win the AFCON crown.

Despite helping Morocco to reach the final, Regragui has faced criticism on his style of play, especially during the Tanzania fixture which they struggled to win 1-0.

‘I wouldn’t even have mentioned it’

“Yes, it’s tough sometimes. But it’s not just complicated in Morocco. Just look at the criticism Didier Deschamps receives, a World Cup winner as both a player and a coach,” Renard said as quoted by EuroSports.

“And yet, he’s constantly being questioned. Today, there are more media outlets, more social networks. The criticism is multiplied countless times. If I were in Walid’s shoes, I wouldn’t even have mentioned it.

“The most important thing for him is having achieved a stratospheric 2022 World Cup by qualifying them for a semi-final. Then, of course, he had a bit of a setback with the Round of 16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations, but that happens. It’s never easy to digest such a performance.”

Asked whether it is hard to manage Morocco than elsewhere, he responded: “We win but we don’t play well’: it’s a criticism we often hear, even in France. In Morocco, there’s enormous passion, but that’s true in passionate countries like Brazil or South America in general.

“The more passion there is, the more excitement there is, and the harder it is to succeed. Today, Walid is a demigod, let’s leave him alone. One day, a president told me: ‘You know, if you were a surgeon, no one would come to give you advice during your operations because no one has the expertise for that.

“In football, everyone thinks they have the expertise…’ I know Walid well, I would tell him not to spread himself too thin because, deep down, he no longer needs to respond to his detractors.”

Senegal will play in their fourth AFCON final and first since 2021, while Morocco will contest their second AFCON final and first since 2004.

When Morocco lifted the trophy in 1976, the final stage was played in a round-robin format with no final.