Rabat – National team captain Romain Saiss offered his apologies to Moroccan fans following the team’s early departure from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Morocco’s national team left AFCON on Tuesday following a 2-0 loss against South Africa.
“We’ve made a lot of people sad today…I would like to apologize for that,” he said in a post-match interview on national television.
Despite the loss, Saiss expressed his faith in the national team, explaining that the Tuesday game does not define their future performance.
“We still have a lot of room for improvement. But today, for sure, we are disappointed. I am very disappointed,” he added.
During the clash with the South African team, the Atlas Lions missed multiple opportunities to score. Romain Saiss said that the team was aware of this weakness, and they paid the price for it in yesterday’s game.
“We’ve said it before, there were moments when we needed to finish the game off. One day, we were going to be punished. Today – Tuesday -, that’s what happened,” he said.
While they failed to win the game, the national team did manage to net one goal when Mazraoui kicked the ball into the net in the 28th minute, but the referee had already blown the whistle for offside during the build-up to the play and the goal was disallowed.
Morocco’s early departure from AFCON left fans in shock, as they were among the favorites to win the tournament alongside Nigeria, Senegal, and Egypt.
However, the 2023 AFCON proved to be highly unpredictable as Senegal, Egypt, and Morocco have all been knocked out of the tournament.
Read Also: South Africa Ends Morocco’s AFCON Journey with a 2-0 Upset
