Romain Saïss explains injury from Morocco AFCON opener

Despite making a winning start, Morocco’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign was dampened by the injury suffered by captain Romain Saïss at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Sunday.

The Atlas Lions’ defender was forced off in the first half of their Group A 2-0 victory against Comoros after an awkward landing during a duel, leaving the pitch visibly distressed.

💬🇲🇦 Romain Saiss raconte son discours pour remobiliser les troupes :

« Il y’a beaucoup de jeunes, c’est leur 1ère CAN. Il y’a du stress mais je leur ai dit de se libérer et jouer avec son cœur. Il y’a de la qualité ! » 🫡🤲🏽 pic.twitter.com/B1o4zXMsCt

— TFT MOROCCO (@TFT_Morocco) December 21, 2025

“It saddens me because I put in a tremendous amount of effort to come back and be here. We’ll do some tests tomorrow and see what they show. It’s a race against the clock, but I have to stay positive,” said a visibly heartbroken Saiss as quoted by Foot Africa.

‘We don’t have the exact diagnosis yet’

“The most important thing was to win. Not everything can be perfect in a first match. We have to keep the positives and iron out the minor mistakes. Inshallah, we’ll grow stronger as the tournament goes on.”

Speaking after the match, Morocco coach Walid Regragui said: “We don’t have the exact diagnosis yet. He felt something in his knee. It won’t recover quickly. We hope to get him back as the tournament goes on. It’s a blow for the team. We have to manage absences.”

The Atlas Lions will now look ahead to their next match against Mali on Friday, December 26.

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