Winning the Africa Cup of Nations “is very hard” but the players “will do their best” to claim the title and make the Moroccan people happy again, said the head coach of Morocco, which according to the US news channel is now part of the “elite” of world football after the historic performance achieved at the last World Cup.

“More than a year after a fairytale performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, all eyes are still on Morocco’s national football team and its head coach Walid Regragui,” CNN pointed out.

“And to up the stakes even more, they are one of the favorites to win this latest edition of the Africa Cup of Nations,” CNN added during this interview carried out at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé.

According to Regragui, Morocco has “important goals” during this CAN. “In this training center [Mohammed VI Football Complex] there is a photograph of the national team which were the last winners of the African Cup in 1976. Every day when the players come here, they look at the photo and get inspired. My goal as a coach is not to remove this photo but it is to put a new photo of the next winners here,” Morocco’s head coach stressed.

The Atlas Lions head coach, who noted that Morocco must regularly qualify for the World Cup, did not rule out the possibility that an African team would win the trophy one day.

Regarding his personal achievements, Africa’s “Coach of the Year” said that “these are not things I’m very interested in”. “What interests me most is my team,” he underlined.

“Today many individual trophies are awarded, either CAF, Ballon d’Or or FIFA Awards. It is nice to see Africans like myself at these awards, because it enhances the continent, and most of all, it enhances the Moroccan football landscape,” Regragui said.

On Tuesday, Morocco will take on South Africa in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations.