“I’m the coach of my country, that’s up against my second country,” said Walid Regagrui, looking forward to Morocco’s historic semi-final against France on Wednesday.
- Morocco coach was born in France and played for five French clubs
- He says it will be “special for my loved ones, family and relatives”
- Expresses his admiration for Olivier Giroud, his old team-mate at Grenoble
Morocco’s ground-breaking run to the FIFA World Cup™ semi-finals has unleashed a torrent of emotions. Walid Regragui, the man who has guided the north Africans to Wednesday’s showdown with France, knows this better than anyone. For a start, he has felt it as deeply and intensely as anybody else. Consider his response to the quarter-final triumph over Portugal. “I think it was the first time I’ve cried for a football game,” he said. “It didn’t last long, but the emotion was so strong that I couldn’t control myself.” Another night of high emotion awaits at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday for the 47-year-old. After all, France is his “second country” as he puts it. He was born in Corbeil-Essones in the southern suburbs of Paris and his playing career began at Racing Paris and was spent mostly in France with spells at Toulouse, Ajaccio, Dijon and Grenoble, where he encountered a young Olivier Giroud. In this interview with FIFA, the 47-year-old discusses his feelings at facing France, his admiration for Giroud and the role his players’ mothers are playing in Morocco’’ World Cup adventure.
FIFA: How does it feel to come up against the defending world champions?
Walid Regragui: It’s a great challenge for us. We came up against the last runner-up [Croatia] and third team [Belgium], so practically all the best teams in the world. Now this may be the toughest challenge. We respect them, and we’ll give our best, as we’ve been doing it since the start of the competition, to create an upset because obviously, if we achieve this feat, it will be an upset.
As you grew up in France and played for so long in French football, how special is this match to you?
It’s mostly special for my loved ones, family and relatives. It’s somehow special for me too, since I’m also French and grew up in France. However, I’m trying to escape this debate and think only about football. I’m the coach of my country, that’s up against my second country, so to speak, and the objective is to knock out France. It’s a football game, and that’s all it is, and in no way does it take away my love for France.
You created history with Morocco as a player by reaching the 2004 AFCON final. Now you are one step away from a World Cup final. How does that feel?
It’s outstanding because when you’re playing football as a kid and you love this sport – and we’re all ambitious somehow – you have the desire to go down in history and write a chapter of your country’s football history. Admittedly, having taken part in [Morocco’s] last AFCON final as a player – it was almost 20 years ago – and leading my country to the World Cup semi-finals, experiencing these emotions with this people and these fans, it is indescribable.
Can you talk about your old team-mate at Grenoble, Olivier Giroud?
Olivier is a resilient player. It was complicated for him right from the outset, even at Grenoble, but he’s never given up. I’ve often been following him from a distance [and] may have had him only once one the phone in the meantime to congratulate him. What he’s achieved is outstanding and he deserves it. For the short period of time I was alongside him, I can tell he’s a great lad, with values. When you have values, as well as a good heart like Olivier’s, and when you’re a hard worker – I’m very happy about what he’s been achieving.
Can you talk about how important it has been to have the players’ families here with you?
I think it has bolstered the players. You know, as north Africans, we’re very close to our families, especially our mothers. That’s something only we can understand. Being away from our mothers is always difficult. The loving relationship we have with them is strong and I thought it’d be very important in a competition like the World Cup, that comes around every four years, that they too can experience it with their children.
They’re not always with us at the hotel, obviously, but we know that they’re not far, we keep in touch, and we see them on matchdays. As we’ve agreed, every time they win, they get to spend three or four hours with their mums so they can celebrate with them. I think it gives them energy.
On the subject of celebrations, how does it feel when your players are throwing you up in the air at the end of a game?
We were just happy. You’re in a trance in such moments. We shared things and were happy to be together. The fact that they lifted me up, it wasn’t important to me. The most important thing to me was to see them happy, that they joined their families in the stands and that we celebrated together. It showed the spirit of the squad.
Finally, do you have a message for the Morocco fans?
We know they’ll support us tomorrow; those who will come to Doha and those who will watch us from Morocco. We’ll do our best like always. We will have faith in getting a good result and they’ll have it too. For what they’ve been doing since the beginning of the competition, supporting the whole team – thank you so much. It’s not finished, God willing; the next step is tomorrow.
