Morocco are hungry to go beyond the semifinals at the World Cup, coach Mohamed Ouahbi said after his side earned a 1-1 draw with powerhouse Brazil in their opener on Saturday.
Ouahbi had said ahead of the match that Morocco were prepared to shed their underdog image, four years after they knocked out Spain and Portugal to become the first African team to reach the final four in Qatar.
While their fans were outnumbered at the sold-out New York New Jersey stadium, Morocco gave them plenty to cheer for with a strong performance against the five-times champions.
Ismael Saibari gave Morocco the first-half lead against the disjointed Brazilian team on Saturday, before Vinicius Jr levelled it in the 32nd minute.
Second-half substitutions brought “freshness” to the team as mistakes began to pile up in the intense contest, Ouahbi said.
‘It was a good match’
“I don’t know if 20% of the crowd were Moroccans, but we could hear them very loudly. If it was only 20%, they fooled me into thinking there were many more of them there,” said Ouahbi.
“I hope they had great fun watching a good match tonight, and I hope this will continue.”
“For the future of Moroccan football, we are confident. We drew; we’re happy. I’m not sad. We would have wanted to win, obviously, but I’m not sad,” said Ouahbi.
“What I’m really proud of is that we’re bold enough to play and ask for the ball under pressure. This is a great quality that we have.”
The draw sees the two teams each earn one point with Haiti playing Scotland in the second Group C match on Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
“I want to go beyond the semifinals, but it was a good match,” Ouahbi told reporters. “One is good enough and we’ll improve.”
