DOHA: Morocco coach Walid Regragui has merely put a foot wrong in his team's dream World Cup run but he might come to regret the risk he took on fielding injured players, then seeing them forced to come off in the 2-0 semi-final defeat by France.
Romain Saiss and Naif Aguerd were in Regragui's starting lineup, however, Saiss left the field after just 20 minutes and Aguard was forced to depart after his muscle issue reappeared during the warm-up for the game. "Aguerd left during warm-ups, followed by Saiss and (Noussair) Mazraoui at halftime. We found it a little excessive, but those who returned gave it their all "After the game, he said.
"Against a team like France, the tiniest error is expensive, and we can't advance to the final when we waste as many chances as we had in the first half," the coach said. "The second goal (in the 79th minute) kills us," said Regragui. "We were better in the second half, but we didn't score.
In the third-and-fourth-place play-off, Morocco will now take on Croatia, and he acknowledged he would give players who hadn't played regularly for his team an opportunity.
The coach said, "We're going to offer playing time to people who have played less. It's going to be challenging mentally."
Regragui stated that third place was what Morocco "wanted," but added that "the most important thing is to have performed well, to have demonstrated that football exists in Morocco and that we have fantastic supporters."
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