Morocco World Cup Team Blog

International Friendly: Morocco V. Northern Ireland

Xavier — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:48:55 +0000

The Moroccan National Team is in Belfast and ready to take on Northern Ireland, in an international friendly match ahead of the CAN-2012 qualifier against neighboring Algeria. This will be the first opportunity for new coach Eric Gerets to assess his selection, a test match of sorts for the legendary Belgian boss.

the Atlas Lions’ next official match against the Fennec Foxes of Algeria will take place in March 2011. But before the preparations commence, Eric Gerets would like to add the final touches to his training blueprint. Time is no doubt of the essence. The Belgian headman has preferred to retain most of same players who have featured in the last three matches under assistant coach Dominique Cuperly. However, in addition to longstanding keeper Nadir Lamyaghri, an apt backup has finally entered the fray. Ahmed Mohamedina the goalkeeping denizen of Olympique Khouribga Mohamedin has been called and will be on guard, lest anything happens with Lamyaghri. Among the domestic Moroccan Botola league players, only two Raja Casablanca or Rajaouis will travel, Morad Ainy and Rachid Soulaimani were selected from the group and should play tomorrow.

Regarding overseas selections, two fresh recruits arrive in the form of Nacer Chadli (FC Twente) and Younis Belhanda (Montpellier). If most observers are to be believed, these two players are rapidly developing, hence the quick callup from Gerets. Indeed, Nacer Chadli is coming off a memorable stretch in the Dutch league as well as in the Champions League, whilst Younis Belhanda was voted by player of the month of October by Montpellier supporters.

One player to keep an eye on is Adil Hermach (RC Lens). The young defensive midfielder has been on fire at Lens, anchoring the midfield whilst ascending to the captain’s armband for the French northern giants.

On another note, Franco-Moroccan defender Younes Kaboul (Tottenham) has chosen to play for the French National Team and will feature in Les Bleus friendly tomorrow against England. Eric Gerets was interested in the strong center-half but France boss Laurent Blanc apparently beat him to the punch.

The Northern Irish clash, the first with Gerets on the bench, will also take stock of the homogeneity born out in the starting eleven.

If the Moroccan NT is full of talent, one of its notable weaknesses is its lack of cohesion and chemistry at the moment. This glaring deficit has penalized the Atlas Lions in the past few years and the problem persists. Finding the right formula to bring about said cohesion is one of the main priorities of the new coach. “I will never accept players who do not fight for the entire squad,” he recently warned at a press conference held in the beach town of Skhirate in northern Morocco.

And so, the Gerets era finally begins.

The National Squad: Lamyagri, Chadli, Chamakh, Kharja, Kantari, Kaddouri, Benatia, Hermach, Souleimani, Belhanda, Hadji, Mohammedina, Ainy, Benzoukane, El arabi, Berrabeh, Salamat, El Ahmadi, Serhane, El Zhar

Injuries: Mbarak Boussoufa, Michaël Basser Chrétien, Mounir El Hamdaoui and Adel Taarabt are all out with varying injuries.

Viewing Options: Broadcast at 20:45 GMT on SkySports2 and RTM1.
Streaming here: http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=95156&part=sports

Eric Gerets arrives

Xavier — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:38:28 +0000

Arriving in Morocco earlier this week Eric Gerets held his first press conference on Tuesday night. With the direct manner many are accustomed to from the Belgian headman, Gerets described his plans for the young Atlas Lions. Finally free of all ties with Saudi club al-hilal, coach Gerets speaks of the beginning of a new life and adventure in the Maghreb.

“My first contact with the President of the Moroccan Football Federation went very well, I sensed in him a great desire to work together as a team,” said the former Marseille boss, who saw his loyal assistant, Dominique Cuperly, take the helm for the first two games of the 2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers.

“I think it’s a good start, unfortunately we did draw against the Central African Republic. But we won the second away game in Tanzania so if we achieve a good result against our Algerian friends at our next competitive match, it will be a good series of events,”Gerets surmised. “My main goal is to win titles, I think I was born to collect trophies. I certainly gained a lot of them as a player, I led teams that were also very honored, but I now want to win titles with this national team of Morocco.”

To achieve this, it will take “some time”, says Gerets. “The game plan that we are trying to introduce (myself and Cuperly) is a bit new,” he added. But the will is already there and the quality should be there and if they manage to follow the philosophy that I want to instill, then we’ll see some very strong results. “The friendly match on the 17th of November, against Northern Ireland will figure in this process. “The main objective is to test players who have not participated in other meetings or who have had little game time. Moreover, we want to tryout players who are still reluctant to choose between the Moroccan jersey and that of the nation of their birth. So a lot of work, we do not have much time but we’ll get there, “summarized the coach. A rousing speech that Marouane Chamakh and his partners will now look to translate into victories. Let’s hope its so…

Morocco tops group D with win

Xavier — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:47:44 +0000

A satisfying victory on Saturday in Dar es Salaam has put the Atlas Lions atop Group D in the African Cup of Nations Qualifiers. One day later saw the Central African Republic surprisingly defeat Algeria in Bangui to join the Moroccans in pole position in the group.

It was Morocco’s first victory in a competitive match since October of 2008. The victory confirms the good form the national side has been enjoying since being taken over by the Eric Gerets/Dominic Cuperly regime. Cuperly is currently coaching the team from the sidelines before Gerets assumes the role after his contract expires at Saudi side Al-Hilal FC.

In many ways this was a must win for Cuperly’s men before their next encounter against rivals Algeria which always present a difficult challenge. The victory was also needed to boost the confidence of players and staff that the Moroccan National team is once again on solid footing as they ambitiously push to get back to the African Cup of Nations and subsequently the 2014 World Cup Finals in Brazil.

From the outset of the contest the Atlas Lions looked aggressive and solid in defense. but after several attempts with no return they were able to breakthrough with Mounir El Hamdoui’s 42 minute strike before the break. The goal came as Marouane Chamakh played a one two with a head volley that fell perfectly for Ajax’s star striker who neatly slotted home past goalkeeper Juma Kaseja who had no chance on the ball.

The second half saw an aggressive defense helped by more robust attacking from Cuperly’s men. Mohammed Berrabeh did a fine job closing ranks in the midfield and the Tanzanians were unable to string enough passes together to really threaten on a consistent basis.

Youssef Hadji replaced El Hamdaoui late in the match but did not really have enough pitch time to spice things up with his usual mercurial play. Hadji was coming off an impressive performance against the Central African republic in which he scored two goals after coming on as a substitute.

So after weeks of anticipation the Atlas Lions claimed an important victory as the sun set over the Indian Ocean. Hopefully it is a portent of things to come.

Morocco ascends to 37th position in FIFA ranking

Mahmoud — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:04:30 +0000

Rabat, July 2 – Moroccan soccer team has ascended three places in the new world FIFA ranking, from the 40th position to the 37th, with a total of 689 points.

At the Arab level, the Moroccan team came second after Egypt, while it ranked 6th in Africa after Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast.

Since May, Morocco has ascended eight places, moving from the 45th position to 37 this month.

New Euro 2008 champion, Spain, topped the list as the new number one nation, followed by Italy, Germany, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

FiFA’s ranking system takes into account current performance, with previous results gradually reducing in importance.

(MAP)

CAN/World Cup qualifiers: Morocco bests Rwanda to lead Group

Mahmoud — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:51:14 +0000

Casablanca, June 23 – Morocco bested Rwanda 2-0 at the fourth game of the 2010 FIFA world cup/Africa nations’ cup qualifiers to join the Amavubi Stars at the leadership.

Seeking to take revenge over Rwanda after the large 3-1 defeat in Kigali, the Moroccans put their feet down on the accelerator at the outset of the game creating several goal opportunities.

By the 11th minute into the first half, Abdessalam Benjelloun was aggressed in the Rwandan area and the Algerian referee whistled a penalty for the Moroccans. Youssef Safri converted the penalty to open the score for the Atals Lions.

Five minutes later, the same Benjelloun came back to spread panic in the Rwandan camp with a wonderful shoot that shook the left goalpost of the Rwandan keeper. The Moroccans continued their solo dance in the Rwandan camp till the end of the last half.

After the second half whistle, the Moroccans raised the pace again by doubling the score at the 49th minute thanks to Liverpool player Nabil Ezher, who vibrated the Rwandan nets after a wonderful individual effort.

Moroccans have lost a series of obvious opportunities to increase the scoring and avoid goal-average calculations.
In the group’s other game, Ethiopia trashed Mauritania 6-1.

Standing:

1- Morocco 9
2- Rwanda 9
3- Ethiopia 6
4- Mauritania 0

(MAP)

CAN/World Cup qualifiers: Morocco stumbles in Rwanda

Mahmoud — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:46:16 +0000

Kigali, June 16 – Moroccan squad on Saturday stumbled 1-3 before Rwanda in their third game of the 2010 FIFA world cup/Africa nations’ cup qualifiers.

14th minutes into the first half, striker Elias Ntaganda got the opener for the locals to set the stadium alight, while his teammate Labama Bokota Kamana doubled the lead at 68th minute.

After Houssine Kharja failed to convert a penalty, the Moroccans succeeded to reduce the scoring at the 76th through Youssef Safri.

Olivier Karekezi sealed the game destiny at the 90th minute with a third goal.

After a quarrel between Moroccan Soufiane Alloudi and Rwandan Eric Kabana, the two players got a red card at the 74th.

In the other game in Group 8, Ethiopia beat Mauritania 1-0 in Nouakchott on Friday evening.

After three days, the Rwandans take the lead with nine points, followed by Morocco (6 points), Ethiopia (3 points) and Mauritania (0 point).

In the fourth game, the Atlas Lions will play Rwanda next Saturday in Morocco
(MAP)

Atlas Lions eliminate Algeria from CHAN qualifiers

Mahmoud — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:43:51 +0000

(MAP) – Fes, May 19 – Moroccan National Football Team won over the Algerian side 3-1 on penalties, on Saturday, to book their ticket to the final round of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers of locally-based players.

The Atlas Lions took the lead in the 29th minute thanks to a goal of Mohamed Madihi, but Algeria’s Nassim Dahhouch equalized eight minutes before final whistle. With a 1-1 draw in the first leg, in Kolea (Algeria), the two sides were forced into penalty shootouts that gave victory to Morocco.

Morocco will lock horns with Libya, which qualified for next round over Tunisia. The Libyan team had got a bye following the withdrawal of Egypt from the tournament, slated for February 22 through March 8, 2009 in Cote d’Ivoire.

Roger Lemerre appointed to lead Atlas Lions

Mahmoud — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:56:46 +0000

(MAP) -Rabat, May 13 – Frenchman, Roger Lemerre, was picked to succeed his countryman, Henri Michel, in leading the Moroccan soccer squad, local Football Federation (FRMF) revealed in a press release.

The appointment comes after several months of negotiations on whether to opt for a Moroccan or a foreign coach, and only three weekends before the opening group qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.

Lemerre, 66, will take charge on July 1, 2008, the release said.

The decision was taken “after deep reflection” and “meticulous consideration” of the bids presented, and “while taking into consideration the experiences lived recently,” FRMF said, concluding that “all the conditions are now met for Mr. Lemerre to takes up the responsibility of the national teams.”

Lemerre is succeeding his countryman Henri Michel who was fired in January after the poor performance of the Moroccan soccer squad in the African Cup finals in Ghana, and their early exit from the tournament.

The Federation said it will name trained and experienced local coaches to ensure the technical supervision of the other categories of national teams.

Morocco trash Belgium 4 -1 in a friendly in Brussels

Mahmoud — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:46:48 +0000

(AP) -Morocco scored two goals in each half Wednesday to beat Belgium 4-1 in a friendly.

Soufiane Alloudi and Tarik Sektoui gave Morocco a 2-0 lead by the 34th minute, before Axel Witsel pulled a goal back for Belgium 16 minutes later.

Nabil El Zhar restored Morocco’s two-goal margin in the 85th after pouncing on a defensive error and curling the ball past Morocco goalkeeper Stijn Stijnen. Abdessalam Benjelloun made it 4-1 in the 90th.

Fathi Jamal replaced Henri Michel and became Morocco’s temporary coach after the team was knocked out of the African Cup of Nations in the first round earlier this year.

“After our dramatic exit in the Africa Cup, this really feels great. It has been a long time since we played like this,” Morocco playmaker Mbark Boussoufa said.

List of the 24 Players called for Morocco’s Friendly against Belgium

Mahmoud — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:32:21 +0000

Fathi Jamal has selected 24 players for the friendly of Morocco against Belgium on March 26th reported MAP.

5 Players in this squad list are from Moroccan league from which two are goalkeepers (Karim Fegrouch and Hamza Boudlal).

Also five players from the Olympic team are selected: Abdeslam Benjelloun, Rachid Hamdani, Adil Hermach, Nabil Dirar and Nabil El Zhar.

Here’s the squad list:
1. Nadir Lamyaghri (Al Wahda/UAE).
2. Karim Fegrouch (Wydad Casablanca).
3. Hamza Boudlal (Olympique Khouribga).
4. Salaheddine Sbai (RC Charleroi/Belgium).
5. Amine Erbate (Dafra/UAE).
6. Michael Basser (AS Nancy-Lorraine/France).
7. Abdeslam Ouaddou (Valenciennes FC/France).
8. Mourad Aini (Raja Casablanca).
9. Youness Mankari (Wydad Casablanca).
10. Badr El Kadouri (Dynamo Kiev/Ukraine).
11. Youssef Hadji (AS Nancy-Lorraine/France).
12. Youssef Safri (Southamton FC/England).
13. Tarik Sektioui (FC Porto/Portugal).
14. Houssine Kharja (FC Siena/Italia).
15. Adil Hermach (KSV Roulers/Belgium).
16. Rachid Hamdani (Clermont Foot/France).
17. Issam Erraki (AS FAR).
18. Nabil Dirar (Westerloo/Belgium).
19. Nabil El Zhar (Liverpool/England).
20. Marouane Chamakh (Girondins de Bordeaux/France).
21. Mbarek Boussoufa (Anderlecht/Belgium).
22. Hicham Aboucherouane (Esprance de Tunis/Tunisia).
23. Soufiane Alloudi (Al Ain/UAE).
24. Abdessalam Benjelloun (Hibernian/Scotland).