Morocco Coach Believes "Atlas Lions" Are Ready for Something Big

Morocco's national team coach, Mohamed Ouabhi, believes his squad is poised for significant success at the World Cup, stating that the "Atlas Lions" can be "unstoppable" when playing to their full potential. The Moroccans, who finished fourth at the previous World Cup, eliminated the Netherlands today after a penalty shootout, following a 1-1 draw in regular time and extra time at the stadium in Guadalupe, near Monterrey. The African team should arguably be considered favorites today, given their semi-final appearance at Qatar 2022 and their status as continental champions. Ouabhi attributes today's achievement to the hard work and successes of four years prior.

"The World Cup in Qatar changed the mentality of the Moroccan team, and I am in a good position to speak about that," said Ouabhi, who last year led Morocco to a landmark victory at the U20 World Cup in Chile. "Moroccan players, not just in Europe but in Morocco, believe in themselves, and the fans believe in us too. That's so important. They are demanding, but that's because they know how far we can go," he added.

Now in the Round of 16, the Moroccans will face one of the tournament co-hosts, Canada. Beyond that match looms a potential quarter-final clash with France, should "Les Bleus" first overcome Sweden. However, Ouabhi is focused solely on the game against the Canadians, emphasizing that he will not allow any complacency.

"We know that it's one match after another, and people think it will be easy for us, easy for Morocco. But it's not. Canada is a team that will be very difficult for us."

The coach then stated that his camp already believes Morocco can go even further than their 2022 performance, aiming for a World Cup title match.

"What we need to tell ourselves is that no one can stop us," he said. "We are unstoppable if we play the football we know how to play. But no one is invincible. And that's what I tell my boys. If we make a mistake, we'll go home. But we must ensure that all the tools we use, the tools in our arsenal, can take us as far as we can go. And that's the mentality we want all our players in Morocco to have."