Morocco head coach Walid Regragui says he’s not too concerned about his side struggling to contain Percy Tau and Thapelo Morena on the left side of his defence.
South Africa notably found joy on the flank where Tau and Morena had free reign, initially against Bayern Munich full-back Noussair Mazraoui and later Burnely winger Anass Zaroury in the second half.
But the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalist coach feels he used the game as an experiment while stating Mazraoui was lacking match-fitness.
“I tried a lot today, I played a winger at left-back, I wanted to see when you are losing if you can attack with more offensive players, [Zaroury] it’s not his position for that, he did it well, it was not easy for him to put him in this game,” he said when asked about the struggles against Tau on the left side of defence.
“But this is what I said before the game, I need to try something, for me it’s a friendly game, it’s only three points, we’re [both] qualified, it’s important. I see a different system, tactically, we changed a lot today, same against Cape Verde, I need to be prepared and see other things [for the future challenges].
“You know Mazraoui before half-time we lost him, we lost a leader, he comes back from a one-month injury, he’s not ready but you need to give him confidence, he played 60 minutes, he doesn’t have 100 percent [fitness[].
“Many players weren’t at 100 percent but I’m happy that we still performed despite that, we could have drawn in the last minute or we could have lost 3-1, I think it’s a good game with a lot of opportunities for the two teams.
“Good opposition and now it’s holidays, and I see my team in September where they learn about this game.”
Morocco can still win Group K as they face Liberia in their final Group K game before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
