Morocco 0-0 Croatia: Morocco began the World Cup with a tie on Wednesday. No goals were scored versus Croatia, leaving both teams unhappy. Morocco’s national coach, Walid Regragui, said his players did not have enough respect for the Croatians.
“Obviously, Croatia has an excellent, well-organised team, but we played a solid game and made it extremely challenging for them,” Regragui remarked at a press conference. In the end, I think we were just too nice to Croatia.”
He remained silent about Noussair Mazraoui’s injuries, and could cope with a point. “Croatia does have a lot of qualities, and we were a little tired towards the conclusion of the game, so we attempted to get the draw in the final phase. That worked, and we are pleased. Finishing opportunities versus Belgium must be improved.”
Following that, Hakim Ziyech arrived. He communicated with the NOS. “I think we were quite strong defensively, and they didn’t do much creating. I believe we simply did not create enough opportunities for ourselves. That will provide some labour in the days ahead, but we must not become agitated.”
Croatia’s star player, Luka Modric, was equally dissatisfied. “How should I respond? We were entitled to better. We had chances towards the conclusion of the first half. And were better in the second half, but we didn’t score. We have a point and therefore, must make do with it, but we must lift our game.”
Morocco 0-0 Croatia: Sofyan Amrabat’s drama
Sofyan Amrabat arrived just in time to take the field. Morocco was on the field with ten men for an extended period of time, much to the chagrin of national coach Walid Regragui. Amrabat later explained why he was absent.
Amrabat told ESPN, “I read a ton of hilarious and fun stuff. I was having groyne issues during the break, so I took off my shin guard. Because someone else had placed his towel on it, I had misplaced my shin guard.”
While the midfielder searched for his shin pad, his team returned to the pitch. He added, “I had no idea they were already on the field. It wasn’t until later that our captain informed me that the ref had stated, ‘If he does not really come, we’ll simply start’.”
