Jose Mourinho in Awe of Morocco's Ounahi, Regragui

Rabat – The talismanic football coach Jose Mourinho said he has been impressed by Morocco’s epic journey at the 2022 World Cup, praising the Moroccan team’s tactics and fighting spirit.

Raving about the Moroccan national team after their qualification for the semifinals, the well-respected Portuguese tactician singled out midfielder Azzedine Ounahi and his coach Walid Regragui as the central pillars in Morocco’s tactical dismantling of highly ranked European teams.

Morocco defeated Mourino’s home country Portugal 1-0 on Sunday, securing its first qualification to the World Cup’s semi-finals and becoming the first Arab nation — and African team — to reach that milestone.

“When I saw the game against Portugal starting and the team without Noussair Mazraoui and Nayef Aguerd, I thought it would be a problem for Morocco but it was not a problem,” Mourinho said in a video posted on social media.

“When I saw Romain Saiss in the beginning of the second half, their captain, their leader, the centre-back, a crucial position in that kind of match, when I saw him leave also injured, I thought it was a big problem for them but it was not a problem,” he added.

Mourinho extended special congratulations to Regragui for his perfect tactics that have enabled the hard-to-break Moroccan team to reach the last 4 of the FIFA World Cup.

“The coach organised the team very well, starting with 4-3-3; he was able to change during the game to 5-4-1. He saw the danger, he saw Portugal accumulating lots of players in finishing areas and he found a way to control the game,” Mourinho explained.

“They [Morocco’s team] have individuals. Yassine Bounou was an individual during the competition and in this game was the same; Sofyan Amrabat, I know him from Italian football, very good player. But their No.8, the young boy that plays in France in Angers, Ounahi was absolutely incredible. So, they have players, a coach and an incredible spirit,” he added.

Mourinho is not the only football icon to have spoken in glowing terms of Ounahi.

After Morocco eliminated Spain in the round of 16, the now former Spanish Luis Enrique made admiring comments about the 22-year-old Moroccan midfielder.

Meanwhile, FIFA, the governing body of international football, had presciently stated before the World Cup that Ounahi could be one of Morocco’s best performers in Qatar because he is “an agile midfielder with excellent dribbling skills and outstanding tactical awareness.”