Morocco coach after the Mali match: this is exactly what we were looking for

Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi hailed the friendly against Mali as a genuine test for his players, insisting the quality of the opponent and the ferocious tempo handed his side invaluable experience to close out the camp.

Ouahbi said in televised remarks after the match: “It was a good match. We played a genuine friendly characterised by competitiveness and a high tempo against a very good team, and that is exactly what we were looking for. We did not want to end the camp with an easy match, and it was good to face a team of this level.”

The camp had been a resounding success, the Moroccan coach explained, even if a few areas still demanded attention. “We saw some things that we must keep working on and improving, and on the other hand we saw that we have good potential, and that the opponent found great difficulty in pressing us and winning back the ball,” he added.

Morocco lacked penetration in spells of the contest, Ouahbi noted. The performance picked up after the break, he said, particularly defensively and in dictating the flow of the game, with more running in behind the Mali defence.

“We left larger spaces than we should have in the first half, and perhaps we wanted to ignite the match more than necessary, but in the second half the match was more controlled, with runs made in depth, and we could have created clearer chances and scored goals,” he added.

Signing off, Ouahbi left no doubt about his satisfaction with the week’s work. “We come out satisfied with this camp, it was very useful and we will continue to work, develop and progress. Today we saw players who put in a great effort and ran a lot, and the tempo and intensity that characterised the match are very important, because it is matches like these that help us develop.”