July 16, 2011
July 16, 2011
Morocco international defender, Jamal Alioui has said he is not surprised the Atlas Lions are level on points with the central African Republic on top of Group D but hopes they will grab a win against ” les fauve” in Bangui early in September.
“Today, you know, in Africa there are no more teams that surprise me because now almost everyone is more or less on the same level. We’re not living in the eighties anymore,” said the new Alkharitiyat signing,” he told Mountakhab.net “There are a lot of teams that have proven themselves, like Gabon and Togo, whereas some years ago these nations were not on our level. Now, everyone holds their own and you need a maximum of respect for everyone. But we must not devalue ourselves, we’re going to go to Bangui to qualify.” While expressing hopes, the defender feels he is at ease with Belgian coach Eric Gerets than the other four with whom he had previously be under them. “Honestly you can’t compare them to him and I don’t mean to disrespect anyone. Already in terms of personality, you can see the guy has something. And in terms of respect also,” offered the 29-year-old. “You know when you play for a lot of coaches, with some you can tell that people aren’t treated the same. Gerets talks to everyone. That’s why there aren’t any problems in the national team anymore. I won’t say we’re cured but we’re on the way and we need to have confidence in him.”