[Curiosities] Walid Regragui: Moroccan Leader of the Year

[BirSaNN]

Regragui’s achievements transcend Morocco, as he is now celebrated across Africa and the Arab world as a great leader and tactician.

Rabat - Hailed by FIFA as  “Morocco’s hero at Qatar 2022” the Moroccan national team’s head coach Walid Regragui has become a national icon and the pride of millions of Moroccans around the world after leading the Atlas Lions further than they have ever got in a World Cup tournament.

While Walid Regragui’s appointment as head coach put him on an illustrious, long list of Moroccan coaches to have taken charge of the national team, he became the first coach ever to lead an African or Arab team to the semi-finals of a FIFA World Cup. Regragui’s achievements transcend Morocco, as he is now celebrated across Africa and the Arab world as a great leader and an intelligent tactician who proved that African and Arab nations can go against heavy-weight champions and emerge victorious. 

Uncertain debut

But not everyone was happy or ranked Regragui high prior to his appointment as head coach of the Atlas Lions.

When many voices -- including on this website -- started urging the leadership of the Moroccan football league to consider appointing a young and capable Moroccan coach in replacement of the self-absorbed Vahid Halilhodzic, others appeared to raise doubts about the quality of local coaches and called instead for the appointment of a big name, meaning a European coach, to take Morocco to the World Cup. 

After being at the helm of the team for only three months, however, Regragui not only put together a formidable squad, but his leadership and tactical intelligence helped the Atlas Lions knock out world-class opponents like Portugal and Spain on their way to making history as the first African and Arab team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.  

Generational responsibility

But also adding to his team's historic achievement in Qatar is the young coach's sense of purpose and generational responsibility. In interviews and post-match conferences as his team dazzled the footballing world and made Moroccans proud, Regragui never ceased to speak of the literal and symbolic importance a solid Moroccan performance could have for future generations. After Morocco stunned Portugal to qualify for the semi-finals, Regragui, although happy and proud of his team's historic achievement, was already looking to the future. 

Now that Morocco had made it to the final four of the tournament, he said ahead of the semi-final showdown with France, the goal is to be world champions. “We have not won anything,” he insisted as interviewers kept asking him whether reaching the last four was satisfactory enough as a goal for a Moroccan squad that most pundits had said could not even make it to the round of 16.

And even if Morocco ultimately failed to feature on the tournament's prize podium after losing to France in the semi-finals and to Croatia in the playoff for the third-place, Regragui decided to take from his team's historic performances the main ingredient that Moroccan and African football had lacked for the past many decades: The audacity of belief. 

As the Moroccan tactician put it in  in a post-match interview marking the end of Morocco’s participation in the Qatar World Cup, Morocco has instilled belief in the world's underdogs -- especially those from Africa and the Arab. The Atlas Lions' odds-defying results have made a compelling case that aspiring to win the World Cup and put an end to European and South American supremacy is a “realistic goal.” 

He elaborated rather poetically: “Africa has never won a World Cup. Why not give them this dream? In 20 or 30 years' time, maybe Morocco or Senegal will win the World Cup and then you will look back and say: 'He did say that.'”

Describing Morocco as the tournament's Rocky Balboa after its  jaw-dropping victory against Portugal in the quarter-finals, the French-born coach said that the main lesson from Morocco's defeat of superior-looking European team's was that success is not solely built on talent and money. 

As important for a success story is determination and dedication, he argued. 

‘Effective football’

Often nicknamed “the Moroccan Guardiola,” Regragui is famous for his impeccable sense of humor. As Atlas Lions' fans appeared to be struggling to find a fitting nickname for him, Regragui encouraged them to call him “the avocado head [coach],” a quip on the contemptible name many skeptical pundits and naysayers had used in August to refer to him after he was appointed to lead Morocco to the World Cup. 

Morocco’s World Cup success prompted many analysts to take a closer look at Regragui’s field tactics. FIFA went as far as to argue that his tactics can “change the course of African football.” 

Regragui’s field tactics enacted a break from Africa’s decades-long tradition of capitalizing on single talented players, FIFA wrote. Instead of relying on individual-based tactics, the Moroccan coach opted for “effective football.”

The FIFA statement elaborated: “Unapologetic about his emphasis on being solid in the back, he used his midfield’s relentless energy and his forwards’ flair to soak up pressure and hit opponents on the counter as and when needed.”  

Playing career with the national team 

Between 2001 and 2009, Regragui made 45 appearances with Morocco’s national team. He was part of the team that finished in second place at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in Tunisia.

He played as a right-back for five French clubs throughout his career. In 2002, he won the Ligue 2 with Ajaccio as a player.

Regragui started his career as a coach with the Rabat-based club Fath Union Sport (FUS) between 2014 and 2019, and spent some time coaching in Qatar as well. 

The Moroccan coach made a name for himself during his time coaching the Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca. The highlight of his career with Wydad was when they beat the Egyptian club Al Ahly to win the 2022-22 African Champions League.

During his time with FUS, Regragui won the Moroccan Throne Cup and  the Botola Pro 1, Morocco's top-tier football league. In the time he spent in the Qatari league, meanwhile, the Moroccan coach clinched the Qatar Stars League trophy with Al-Duhail in 2020.

Regragui was also part of the Moroccan national team's coaching staff, working as assistant to former head coach Rachid Taoussi in late 2012 and early 2013.

Getting the last laugh

Once he was appointed to lead the national team to the World Cup in Qatar, one of Regragui's defining decisions was to convince Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech and Bayern Munich's Noussair Mazraoui, had quit the national team following disputes with former coach Vahid Halilhodzic, to return to play for Morocco. 

A few, marginal voices had appeared to criticize that decision, denouncing it as akin to kowtowing to entitled star players with no compelling track record of impressive performances for the national team.

But with both players’ commanding presence in their respective positions having been integral to Morocco's historic run in Qatar, Regragui has surely had the last laugh over skeptics and critics who had predicted failure for his team in Qatar. 

And as he himself put it in the post-match press conference following his team's loss to France in the semi-finals, some “people respected us before and maybe they will respect us even more now…. We went further than Brazil, Spain, Germany, all top sides, but we have to show that regularly if we want Morocco to be on the world footballing map.” 

link: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/12/353301/walid-regragui-moroccan-leader-of-the-year