Morocco’s outstanding performance at the ongoing Qatar 2022 has made the world to focus on African football, and it has significantly demonstrated to the rest of the African continent the value of proper planning and investments. Suffice to mention that this success is as a result of Morocco’s decade-long football plan.
Four years ago, Sunday Oliseh, former Nigeria’s Super Eagles coach, predicted that the Moroccan team will reach the World Cup semi-finals if they plan well to have a FIFA accredited functional facilities, quality organizational preparation, sponsorship, sufficient financial investment and years of planning and hard work.
In the interview, Sunday Oliseh remarked, “If the Moroccan team has the same facilities the Japanese have to prepare for the World Cup, Morocco will get to the semi-finals; If they have the same financial investments that they put into this team, “Morocco will get to the same semi-finals; If they have the same quality of organization, preparation years before the World Cup that they have, sponsorship that they have, they will get to the semi-finals. Those are the things that are keeping the African teams down”.
True to the prediction, Morocco’s progress at the Qatar 2022 World Cup performance can be attributed to:
• Investment in Football. The King of Morocco invests yearly into football and has also created a superior football academy. Apart from South Africa, no country has as much investment as Morocco in football.
• The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FMRF) focused on Grassroots football and a sustainable funnel of footballing talents.
• A national football academy was set up, while Moroccan talents in the diaspora were unearthed via a network of scouts around the world.
• The coach and his team of brave footballers had a hard work preparation.
It is no gainsaying that the Moroccan football coach and team of players should be celebrated for this achievement.
The FMRF deserves a national, continental and global football federation model recognition.
Again, recently former Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, said the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup is the best tournament Africa has ever taken part in. For the first time in Africa’s history, Morocco will play a World Cup semi-final against France after defeating Portugal 1-0 in the quarter final.
The Atlas Lions had topped Group F, finishing ahead of Belgium, Croatia and Canada, to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. They then overcame 2010 champions Spain in the round of 16 stage, beating them 3-0 in a penalty shootout.
They clashed with defending champions France in Doha’s Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday, 14th December, and lost with a 2-0 goal line.
Speaking ahead of the semi-final clash against defending champions France, Oliseh called this the greatest tournament for the Africa as each team that represented the continent won at least a game. “As far as Africa is concerned, this is the greatest tournament my (Africa) continent has ever had, not only because we have an African and an Arab nation in the semi-finals for the first time, but because every African team that has come here has won one game at least,” Oliseh said in a FIFA Technical Study Group press conference.
Senegal in Group A defeated Qatar and Ecuador, Cameroon edged Brazil by a lone goal after playing out an enthralling 3-3 draw with Serbia, Tunisia also beat France 1-0 while Ghana were also 3-2 winners over South Korea. Senegal got to the second round and played very well despite missing their best players,” he said. He also praised Morocco ahead of their feisty semi-final clash against champions France. “Morocco have made the most of their compact defence and the whole team work so hard without the ball. “Sofiane Amrabat has also done a fantastic job in plugging the gaps. And when they go into defensive mode, they have triangles everywhere. Playing with triangles makes it difficult for opposition players to play a pass and break the lines without being crowded out. And how has that worked out for Morocco? They have only conceded one goal, which wasn’t scored by the opposition but by themselves.” Morocco has not conceded a goal from an opposition player in this World Cup, with the only goal against them coming through Nayef Aguerd’s own goal against Canada.
“Look, we’ve had great players play in the European League. In fact, we are the ones and the South Americans and Europeans; we are the ones that have made football in the Champions League what it is. The variety, the beauty that comes with it, you know and now the Arab world has joined in, which is also great,” Oliseh added.
The making of Moroccan Team, the World Cup heroes from Africa
Welsh coach Osian Roberts, investment in talent centres and scouting have helped Morocco to make history in Qatar.
Source: The Nigerian Observer