U-20 AFCON: Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi reacts to tough semifinal clash against Egypt

Morocco U-20 head coach, Mohamed Ouahbi. Photo credit: CAFOnline

Morocco U-20 head coach, Mohamed Ouahbi, has set his sights on winning the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Egypt.

Morocco left it very late in extra time to beat Sierra Leone by 1-0 in the quarter finals, setting up a semifinal clash against hosts Egypt at the June 30 Stadium on Thursday, May 15.

Mohamed Ouahbi said: “We have to be realistic against a strong team like Egypt, and we have to take advantage of the opportunities that will be presented to us, while maintaining focus and calm, in order to succeed in reaching the final,” he said during a press conference held on Wednesday.

“We want to win the championship and go to the World Cup as African champions. We achieved our first goal by qualifying for the World Cup, an achievement that made the players very happy, and we felt great relief after qualifying from the quarter-finals.”

“We respect the Egyptian national team a lot and are well aware of its capabilities. It is a team that does not know how to give up and has distinguished players, so the match will be difficult for both sides.”

“Since I took over the youth team, I have always emphasized the need to focus only on ourselves, without being preoccupied with the refereeing, the pitch, or the atmosphere. Refereeing errors happen, and sometimes they are in our favor and sometimes against us, so our focus is only on ourselves.”

Morocco and Egypt have both qualified for the U-20 FIFA World Cup which will be hosted in Chile later this year.

The winner of the Egypt v Morocco match will face the winner of the other semi-final match between South Africa and Nigeria in the final.