AFCON 2025 Qualifiers: The match against Gabon will be a "very open and offensive" confrontation (Walid Regragui)
Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 23:56 Franceville (Gabon) – On Friday, the Moroccan national team will face Gabon in the fifth round of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, to be held in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026. The match is expected to be "very open and offensive" with both teams free and eager to win, according to the Moroccan coach, Walid Regragui.
"I think both teams will be liberated. I expect a match like the first leg, very open and offensive with two teams that want to win," Regragui said during the pre-match press conference on Thursday evening.
Congratulating the Gabonese team for their qualification to AFCON 2025 and welcoming them to Morocco, Regragui acknowledged the always challenging encounters between the two teams. "We are very happy to be in Gabon and recognize the friendship that binds our two peoples," he said.
"Gabon, which has always had very good players, has a real offensive style of play," he added, noting that the Atlas Lions "will participate in a very good match and under very good conditions."
According to Regragui, this confrontation will be different against a team that will be free and already qualified, which will impact the playing style of both teams. "Our goal is to have a different challenge in each match. Every away match for any team in Africa is difficult, which represents a good challenge for us," he said.
Regarding the physical condition of some players, the national coach mentioned that there "are some issues with players who have been injured, but the majority of our squad is present." "We will wait for the last training session to see how the journey went for some players and the latest physical issues to know if they will participate, since we will play a second match next Monday," the coach of the Atlas Lions explained.
For Regragui, the idea is to review the squad without disrupting the team too much. "We need to have certainties in each match to progress together," he noted, stressing that new players who have joined the national team since the last AFCON need to adapt to the team.
He clarified that the goal of the Atlas Lions is to win this match and have a benchmark away game, highlighting that "it is a match between two great teams, two countries that appreciate each other."
Additionally, the national coach stated that Morocco's goal during the qualifiers was to qualify, despite the fact that the Kingdom is already qualified as the host country, emphasizing that the national team has short, medium, and long-term goals.
The press conference was followed by a training session at the Franceville stadium, open to the press for the first 15 minutes.
Morocco, leading Group B with 12 points, will face Gabon on Friday at 20:00, before hosting Lesotho next Monday at the Stade d'Honneur in Oujda.
Gabon, which holds second place with seven points, qualified for AFCON 2025 before playing the fifth round of qualifiers against Morocco, benefiting from Lesotho's victory over the Central African Republic (1-0).
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