FIFA World Cup: Head coach Ouahbi hails Morocco's fearless approach after hard-fought draw against Brazil

New York [US], June 14 (ANI): Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi expressed confidence in the future of Moroccan football after his side held five-time FIFA World Cup champions Brazil to a 1-1 draw in their opening Group C match at MetLife Stadium on Saturday (Local Time).

The North African side delivered an impressive performance against one of the tournament favourites, matching Brazil throughout an entertaining contest and earning a valuable point to begin their campaign.

Morocco took the lead in the 21st minute through Ismael Saibari after creating several promising opportunities during a dominant opening spell. Brazil responded through Vinicius Jr, who equalised in the 32nd minute to ensure the teams went into the break level.

Both sides continued to attack relentlessly in the second half, producing a series of chances in an end-to-end encounter. However, outstanding goalkeeping from Morocco’s Bono and Brazil’s Alisson kept the score unchanged despite a combined 27 shots between the teams.

Ouahbi said he was pleased with his team’s display and their willingness to play brave, possession-based football against elite opposition.

“For the future of Moroccan football, we are confident. We drew; we’re happy. I’m not sad. We would have wanted to win, obviously, but I’m not sad,” Ouahbi told reporters after the match, as per Reuters.

“What I’m really proud of is that we’re bold enough to play and ask for the ball under pressure. This is a great quality that we have.”

The coach had spoken before the tournament about Morocco moving beyond the underdog tag that followed their historic run to the World Cup semi-finals four years ago, when they became the first African nation to reach the last four.

Following the draw, Ouahbi reiterated his ambitions for the team.

“I want to go beyond the semi-finals, but it was a good match,” he said. “One is good enough, and we’ll improve.”

The Moroccan coach also praised the support his team received despite being outnumbered in the stands.

“I don’t know if 20% of the crowd were Moroccans, but we could hear them very loudly. If it was only 20%, they fooled me into thinking there were many more of them there,” Ouahbi said, according to Reuters.

“I hope they had great fun watching a good match tonight, and I hope this will continue.”

The result leaves Morocco and Brazil with one point each in Group C as the race for the knockout stages gets underway. Morocco will face Scotland in their next Group C clash, whereas Brazil will take on Haiti on Saturday. (ANI)

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