{"id":1269,"date":"2026-01-03T22:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1269\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T22:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:01:08","slug":"mazraoui-urges-moroccan-fans-to-back-team-as-afcon-knockouts-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1269\/","title":{"rendered":"Mazraoui Urges Moroccan Fans to Back Team as AFCON Knockouts Begin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rabat \u2013 Moroccan international Noussair Mazraoui has underlined the weight of responsibility on the national team as they <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moroccoworldnews.com\/2026\/01\/273673\/caf-unveils-afcon-2025-group-stage-best-xi-featuring-two-moroccans\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">prepare<\/a> to face Tanzania in the round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the squad\u2019s final training session, the Manchester United defender reminded fans of the long wait for continental glory. \u201cThere are no easy matches. We have not won the title in 50 years, and every team fights hard to succeed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mazraoui <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manutd.com\/en\/news\/detail\/noussair-mazraoui-and-morocco-top-afcon-2025-group\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">stressed<\/a> his flexibility on the pitch, making clear he is ready to play wherever the coach needs him. \u201cI don\u2019t have a preferred position. Throughout my career, I\u2019ve enjoyed playing in different roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The coach knows I can cover both sides, and I\u2019m happy to do whatever helps the team,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>The defender also sent a heartfelt message to Moroccan supporters, urging them to stand behind the squad from start to finish. \u201cWe ask our fans to support us from the first minute until the last.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even if we struggle, we need them to keep pushing us forward so we can bring them joy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead to the knockout stage, Mazraoui acknowledged that penalty shootouts could become part of the challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He stressed the importance of mental preparation for all possible scenarios. \u201cIn these elimination matches, penalties are always a possibility. We must be mentally ready for whatever happens,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabat \u2013 Moroccan international Noussair Mazraoui has underlined the weight of responsibility on the national team as they&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[411,527,1457,169,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-1269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tanzania","8":"tag-afcon","9":"tag-afcon-2025","10":"tag-mazraoui","11":"tag-noussair-mazraoui","12":"tag-tanzania"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}