Laayoune – While the Moroccan Royal Football Federation (FRMF) is preparing to unveil the name of Morocco’s football team coach at a much-publicized press conference tomorrow, the African Football Confederation (CAF) has already said that Walid Regragui will be the new head coach of the Moroccan team.
“The five qualified African countries will take part in the FIFA World Cup for the first time with coaches from their continent,” CAF said in a statement on Monday, presenting 46-years-old Regragui as the new coach of the Atlas Lions, the Moroccan football team.
While CAF’s announcement confirms the prediction and expectation of many Moroccan football fans and commentators, it is highly likely that the move did not sit well with the FRMF.
In an apparent bid to make the pre-World Cup appointment of a national coach a special moment for fans and keen watchers of the Atlas Lions, the FRMF has for weeks withstood pressure from the Moroccan media to confirm whether Regragui will indeed be leading Morocco at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
If confirmed tomorrow, Regragui will be replacing the Franco-Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic, whom the FRMF sacked earlier this month for no longer fitting with the Moroccan federation’s vision about how to increase Morocco’s chances of performing well at the much-anticipated 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Read also: FRMF Confirms Departure of Morocco’s Coach Halilhodzic
Regragui left Wydad Casablanca in July for a new challenge, prompting many to speculate that the 46-year-old was in talks with the FRMF to become the Atlas Lions’ coach.
The FRMF announced yesterday that the press conference to appoint the national tam’s new head coach will be aired tomorrow at 5 p.m. from the Mohammed V football complex in Casablanca, and it still remains to be seen whether the former Wydad coach will indeed be the main man on Morocco’s bench at the World Cup.
