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Morocco head coach, Walid Regragui has set his sights on winning the African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Redragui who was recently named the African Coach of the Year at the 2023 CAF Awards, sees the award as a strong motivation to aim for more success on the continent.
“I am very proud and honoured to have received this beautiful award. It is not just for me. This is a collective trophy. It is a group trophy. I would never be here if it was not for the players, coaching staff, the entire team, and everyone who has supported us each step of the way,” Regragui told CAFOnline.com.
Regragui dedicated this award to his parents and especially his mother who for the first time in his footballing career – both as a player and manager left Paris to travel to watch his son in action.
“I dedicate this award to my mother. I thank both my parents for their contribution to my career but you know in Africa, mothers are more than special so I celebrate her everyday and thank her for her sacrifice over the years.”
“What we did at the World Cup was historic and when people recognize this talent, it means so much to me and everyone on the team. It was an unbelievable achievement at the World Cup. We put Africa on the world map.”
“But now, we have a different mindset. The Africa Cup of Nations is very, very tough but we are going with the same spirit and inshallah, if we do our very best, we are going to win this trophy.”
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Redragui led the Atlas Lions to reach semi-final, the first by an African side.
Morocco have been drawn in Group F with the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2012 champions Zambia and Tanzania.
The 1976 champions will play at the iconic Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro in the south western part of Côte d’Ivoire.
The Atlas Lions were finalists in 2004 losing to hosts Tunisia 2-1 in a tense final. They also won bronze in 1980.
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Ghananewshome
