Over 12 months ago, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta was presenting a tactics seminar on Zoom, using Arsenal’s victory over Manchester City as one of the examples to explain his coaching and tactical philosophies. And among other attendees at the meeting was one Walid Regragui, a Wydad AC coach soon to be appointed as the Morocco national team coach who will reach the semi-final of the World Cup, the greatest achievement yet for an African country. But it’s the other successful manager from whom Regragui got its inspiration – Diego Simeone.Can Morocco extend fairytale run against France for place in final?The famous Argentine footballer and coach transformed Atletico Madrid since he took over the reigns in 2011 and won two LaLiga titles, two Europa Leagues and was runner-up in the Champions League twice. And all that with his famous (and not so pretty) defensive tactics. And now Regragui is doing the same.„We have played a match similar to that of Spain… and also to that of Cholo” admitted the Moroccan tactician after the second sensation of the African team, a 1-0 win over Portugal, four days after a penalty elimination of Spain. And there is another ‘fan’ of Simeone in the Moroccan team – goalkeeper Yassine Bono. Current Atlas Lion arrived in Atletico youth academy in 2016 as an adult (23 years old), He trained alongside Courtois and Oblak and eventually went on a loan to Saragosa before signing for Sevilla. So if Regragui is Moroccan Cholo, Bono is certainly Morocco’s Oblak.Morocco Coach, Walid Regragui: “European Journalists do not like African teams playing like Europeans. In the past, they were seen as teams who played for fun but were not effective. Those days are over.”We’re very ambitious and hungry. We want Africa to be top of the world”. pic.twitter.com/fTWwcNTmPW— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) December 13, 2022 The Atlas Lion coach did a wonderful job and reminded the whole planet of the days when Atletico made it to two Champions League finals, eliminating Barcelona, Bayern, Chelsea or Liverpool in the process. And Regragui did it with the same formula – strong defense, aggressiveness in the recovery, counterattacking for speed and belief in the system and teammates. And it worked so far. Morocco has conceded only one goal in eight games since their coach made its debut in September (Canada scored one in a 2-1 loss). His granite defense stood out even when the first team players Mazraoui (Bayern), Aguerd (West Ham) and Romain Saiss (Besiktas), were missing, as their replacements El Yamiq (Valladolid), Achraf Dari (Brest) and Attiyat Allah (Wydad Casablanca) all believed in the system and followed it blindly.Mozzart Sport exclusive: Gambian striker reveals what it’s like to work with Regragui, the Moroccan miracle-makerAnd now they will face the ultimate test against the world champion France, with the best scorer in the tournament (Kylian Mbappe 5) and his runner up (Olivier Giroud 4) leading the attack. France won four of it’s 5 games at the tournament so far, with a 1-0 defeat from Tunisia being the only failure, but an innocent one, since they were already through to the knockout phase as the group winners. They scored at least two goals in each win and never waited for the overtime. Clearly the team with best form at the tournament. A tough job for the Moroccan Cholo today…1/2 FINALSTuesdayArgentina – Croatia 3-0 (2-0)/Messi (p) 34, Alvarez 39,69/Wednesday22.00: (1.60) France (3.70) Morocco (7.50)***odds are subject to change
