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.

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.

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).

List of players called:

Fegrouch ( Wydad)
Boudlal (Ock)
Ayni(Raja)
Youssef El Bassri(Far)
Adil Fahim(Izk)
Morsadi(Ock)
Damiani(Dhj)
Karim El youssfi(Mat)
Hamada el Ouali(Kac)
Zoubayri(Kacm)
Hissa(Husa)
Ismail Oujeghfou(FUS)
Mankari(Wydad)
Brazi(Wydad)
Erraki(Far)
Chihani(Izk)
Oulhaj(Raja)
Dayfi(Dhj)
Mrabet(Mat)
Mnassfi(Far)
Ouaddouch(FAR)
Bezghoudi(Ock)
Benhnia(Mas)
Hemmal(Dhj)

Highlighting the problems that hinder South African preparations to host the international football’s quadrennial jamboree, the paper stresses under the headline “2010 World Cup was made for Morocco” that “while FIFA were right to give Africa a World Cup, the folly of overlooking Morocco is becoming increasingly apparent.”

Morocco’s candidature had the lot, notes the daily, citing the kingdom’s assets, notably its proximity to everywhere - notably Europe, which supplies the majority of traveling fans at World Cups — than South Africa, and both safe and sound.

However, Morocco lost the vote, deplores the Daily Telegraph, underlining that the fears that the rainbow nation will be unable to deliver its crock of gold are unlikely to be assuaged by last week’s assurances from his successor, President Thabo Mbeki, that its electricity crisis will not affect the most important soccer event.

The paper notes that there are daily power cuts, some of several hours’ duration, in host cities, while reports indicate that there is no chance of new generating facilities being built before 2016.

The Daily Telegraph wonders how the safety and comfort of millions of football tourists can be anything like guaranteed, in a country where there is already concern over an obstinately high level of street crime, is hard to discern.

The most likely beneficiaries of an African withdrawal would be Germany, where the carnival of two summers ago could simply be reconstructed, concludes the Daily Telegraph.

(Source: MAP)

National technical director and coach of the Moroccan Olympic squad, Fathi Jamal, will assume his duties for a month before appointing a new coach for the national squad, deputy-President of the Moroccan Soccer Federation (FRMF), Mr. Mhamed Aouzal told the press at the end of a FRMF bureau meeting.

According to Mr. Aouzal, Fathi Jamal will lead the national squad in the forthcoming friendly game of the Atlas Lions before Belgium on March 26.

Henri Michel, 60, was sacked for the poor results in the ACN and the attitude he showed in the press conference he gave on January 31 to shed light on the ACN outcome. During this press conference, the Frenchman blamed players on the ACN misadventure saying that the national squad has “excellent players but not high-level players that can change the game at any time instead of collapsing at every moment the team is lagging in score.” He also criticized the national league and sports policy in Morocco.

In the African Cup of Nations, the national squad managed a good start with a 5-1 win over Namibia, but failed to keep the pace and fell to Guinea 3-2 and Ghana 2-0. It is the seventh time that the Atlas Lions quit the African tournament at the first round after Cameroon-1972, Ghana-1978, Senegal-1992, Ghana-Nigeria-2000, Mali-2002 and Egypt-2006.

This early departure sparked off a national-wide sense of bitterness and harsh comments from media, blaming this bad outcome on Henri Michel for his inappropriate technical choices.

(Source: MAP)

According to a press release of the Moroccan Soccer Federation, the decision was made following the poor results of the national team and the attitude showed by the French manager during a press conference, held on January 31 in Rabat.

During that press conference, Henry Michel -who was appointed General Manager of the team in September- put the blame on players for this outcome, saying that the national squad has “excellent players but not high-level players that can change the game at any time instead of collapsing at every moment the team is lagging in scoring.” He also criticized the national league and sports policy in Morocco.

In the African Cup of Nations, the national squad managed a good start with a 5-1 win over Namibia, but failed to keep the pace and fell to Guinea 3-2 and Ghana 2-0. This early departure sparked off a national-wide sense of bitterness and harsh comments from media, blaming this bad outcome on Henri Michel for his untimely technical choices.

(Source: MAP)