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Rabat – Due to its latest performances, the Moroccan futsal team seems to have great quality and potential to dream of making an impression in the next FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021.
Since his appointment as head coach of Morocco’s futsal team in 2012, Hicham Dguig has managed to inspire the Moroccan team to qualify three times for the World Cup. Under his reign, the team had also won the African Futsal Championship twice and the Arab Cup last Saturday for the first time in Morocco’s history.
The squad now aims to honour Moroccan colours in the next world cup after two participations in Thailand 2012 and Colombia 2016, where the Moroccan team could not qualify to the second round.
In an interview with Futsalfeed, Dguig said that he has “analyzed what is the problem, why can’t we [the Moroccan team] cope with the best teams such as Spain, Iran, and Azerbaijan.”
In 2020, the Moroccan national team was crowned African champion for the second time in a row in Laayoune by thrashing Egypt 5-0.
In May 2021, the team won the Arab Futsal Cup for the first time in history.
Morocco’s outstanding numbers in the competition better explains the quality of the Moroccan team. Morocco’s players showed great attacking prowess in their performances during the Arab Futsal Cup, overwhelming the opposition defenses and scoring an impressive tally of 23 goals. The Atlas Lions also showed impressive defensive tactics sawing the team conceding only two goals.
To put things into perspective, the Moroccan team outclassed the United Arab Emirates 5-1, Comoros 3-1, and Saudi Arabia (8-0) in the first round. They beat Bahrain in the semi-final 6-0, and crushed Egypt (host country) 4-0 in the final game to lift the trophy for the first time.
The Moroccan team confirmed its regional hegemony by dominating individual awards, with Anas El Ayane voted best player, Achraf Saoud as top scorer, and Reda Khyari as the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
All these impressive figures have convinced Morocco’s head coach that his team has the quality to make it to the second round of the upcoming World Cup.
“First expectation of the World Cup is to win a historical point for our country. But, I also believe we have [the] quality to pass the group stage, and then, who knows,” Dguig told Futsalfeed.
For the first time in history, the Moroccan futsal team is in the top 20 of the latest FIFA ranking. Dguig’s men are currently ranked 19th worldwide, first in Africa, and the Arab world.
