{"id":406,"date":"2026-01-03T13:45:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/406\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T13:45:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:45:06","slug":"morocco-ready-for-tough-tanzania-test-update-on-hakimi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/406\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco Ready for Tough Tanzania Test, Update on Hakimi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabat \u2013 Walid Regragui, coach of Morocco\u2019s national football team, has pledged strong determination and sense of purpose as the Atlas Lions prepare for their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) round of 16 match against Tanzania<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, ahead of the round of 16 match at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Complex in Rabat, Regragui<\/a> said: \u201cWe have no option but to win in order to continue our journey in this tournament. Tomorrow we will face the Tanzanian team, whom we know very well, given that we have met more than once in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The national coach emphasized his respect for Tanzania, praising their experience and quality. \u201cWe respect Tanzania, who play good football and have experienced players. We have prepared well for this match to avoid any surprises,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Regragui also underlined his team\u2019s philosophy of taking one match at a time. \u201cWe are discussing one match at a time, and we hope to achieve victory tomorrow to qualify for the quarter-finals, final,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While Morocco seeks to continue its continental journey, Tanzania aims to establish itself as a tough opponent capable of causing problems, making the match open to all possibilities on the field.<\/p>\n

The coach warned that overconfidence could be a stumbling block in Morocco\u2019s pursuit of winning the AFCON for the first time since 1976. \u201cWe have to remain focused and remember why Morocco has not won this cup for over 40 years. It\u2019s been overconfidence. We need to respect this Tanzania team, who have a good league and players competing abroad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no small teams in AFCON. One loss and you\u2019re out. There is no room for mistakes at this stage. Clubs and national teams are different\u2014different spirit, different challenge. We always have a difficult and tough game against Tanzania, with a fighting spirit, defending a lot, small spaces, and relying on counter-attacks,\u201d Regragui added.<\/p>\n

Regragui also provided updates on the match fitness of CAF African Footballer of the Year Achraf Hakimi<\/a>, who returned from injury in Morocco\u2019s final Group A match against Zambia last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSince his injury, we\u2019ve been communicating with him. We needed to make sure he plays at the right time. He played 30 minutes against Zambia, which was the right timing without risk. Now physically, he is ready,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good candidate for tomorrow\u2019s game, but we\u2019ll have to see. We will make a decision to allow him to play without risks. This evening we\u2019ll think about it, but he\u2019s ready.\u201d As Morocco prepares for the high-stakes clash, the Atlas Lions aim to maintain focus and discipline, while Tanzania looks to challenge them, setting the stage for an intense and unpredictable encounter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabat \u2013 Walid Regragui, coach of Morocco\u2019s national football team, has pledged strong determination and sense of purpose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[173,569,152,413],"class_list":{"0":"post-406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tanzania","8":"tag-achraf-hakimi","9":"tag-morocco-vs-tanzania","10":"tag-tanzania","11":"tag-walid-regragui"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","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=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}