The national coach, Walid Regragui did not seem affected by the result of the meeting, this Saturday, between South Africa and Morocco (2-1) on behalf of the 5th day of qualifying for the European Cup. Africa of Nations (CAN 2023).
Coach Walid first mentioned the “gift” of the keeper, Mounir Mohammad who, on an error, offered the first goal to the Bafana-Bafana. “The error of our goalkeeper, who gave them the first goal, gave them great confidence and brought them in” very early in the game, he said.
While acknowledging that “matches on the African continent are completely different from the competitive atmosphere of the World Cup”Regragui said he expected a loss, as he said before the game.
“I made a lot of changes, but these are not excuses”and South Africa deservedly won on home soil and in front of their fans, he added, before discussing the absences.
“The basic formation was not present, so the game was an opportunity for me to try players in certain positions until I found alternatives”, he explained.
He also underlined that even if this confrontation was approached as a ” friendly game “, the Atlas Lions having already ensured their qualification, “we entered to win and nothing else”.
But, he continued, “we couldn’t win, and it’s good to lose now before the African Cup, as it happened before the World Cup in Qatar”.
“We learned a lot from the meeting, and we must recover and regain our level before next September”, he concluded.
Note that the defeat against South Africa is the third for Walid Regraki with the Atlas Lions, after those of the World Cup against France in the semi-finals and Croatia in the classification match.