DOHA: Morocco coach Walid Reg­ragui has urged his team to believe they can defeat powerhouse Spain as they attempt to reach a first World Cup quarter-final.

The north African side are in the last 16 for only the second time after advancing as winners of Group ‘F’ ahead of 2018 runners-up Croatia, having defeated Belgium and Canada in Qatar.

“It will be a very testing game for us. We’re coming up against one of the best footballing nations in the world. I think they’re one of the favourites to reach the final,” Regra­gui said on Monday. “That said, we’ve also got things up our sleeve. We’ve had one extra rest day compared to them and we’re going to try and pull a surprise out of the bag.

“If we’re able to send Spain packing I think this will be a wonderful surprise not only for us but for our country.”

Spain denied Morocco a famous win at the 2018 World Cup with a last-gasp equaliser in a 2-2 draw, the only point the Moroccans picked up in Russia.

“We’re not seeking revenge at all. We’re not looking at what happened in the past,” said Regragui, who was appointed in August.

“We’ve got a new generation and, for me, the mentality has to change with the Moroccan team. All the negative aspects, that’s the old Morocco, we’ve changed. Our country’s changed.”

Morocco, the lone Arab nation and the last African team remaining in Qatar, will have the vocal backing of thousands of fans for Tuesday’s game at Education City Stadium.

“We’ll come out swinging. We want to hoist the Moroccan flag way up high. We’re playing first and foremost for us and our country,” said Regragui. “All Arabs and Africans, we want to make them happy. We want their prayers and we want their support so it can give us that extra ingredient to win.

Meanwhile, Spain coach Luis Enrique set each of his players the “homework” of practising 1,000 penalties ahead of the World Cup, saying he is convinced they are not a lottery.

Spain beat Switzerland on penalties at last year’s Euro 2020 but were eliminated on spot-kicks by Italy in the semi-finals.

“Over a year ago, in one of the Spain camps, I told them they had to get here with at least 1,000 penalties taken,” Luis Enrique said on Monday. “I imagine that they have done their homework. If you wait until getting here to practise penalties... (it won’t be enough).

The Spaniard insisted spot kicks were “not a lottery”.

The Spain coach also responded to criticism over the team’s style of play — their commitment to playing out from defence sometimes puts them under pressure in dangerous areas.

Japan earned a shock 2-1 win over Spain, with their first goal coming after the European team lost the ball on the edge of their box and Ritsu Doan slammed home.

“Every team has their weapons,” said Luis Enrique. “We want to get the ball in the best way possible to the forwards, If we have to hit a long ball, we’ll hit it. The interpretation has to be done on the pitch.”

He said he did not agree with Spain’s critics.

“It doesn’t make sense to say that against Japan if we hoofed it away to clear our lines we wouldn’t have let in the first goal,” he said. “We also wouldn’t have scored any goals if we kept kicking it long. We will keep playing the ball out from the back, it’s what we want.”

Luis Enrique confirmed that Cesar Azpilicueta had recovered from his knock against Japan and all 26 players would be fit to train on Monday evening ahead of the game.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2022