Even if this round of 16 France-Morocco seems like a big surprise, Hervé Renard had prepared for this eventuality for a long time by observing Reynald Pedros’ team.
Who could have foreseen this? Corrected by Germany for their entry into the running (6-0), Morocco could fear to live a difficult apprenticeship for their very first World Cup. But instead, Reynald Pedros’ players made history as they scored two wins against South Korea and Colombia to finally fight their way to the knockout stages. A huge feeling.
“It’s true that it’s a surprise even if we know that everything is possible, admitted Eugénie Le Sommer at a press conference this Friday. The probability was very low, that’s the beauty. We were the first surprises. We were thinking of Germany or Colombia, Morocco decided otherwise. »
Fox had anticipated everything
But if we ask the question (“Who could have foreseen that?”), we can still answer Hervé Renard. The coach of Bleues had considered the possibility that the Lionesses of the Atlas invite themselves at this stage of the competition...
“We had prepared for this eventuality. We prepared for the match by supervising our opponent for a long time, confided Renard this Monday at a press conference, reports L’Equipe. A perfect job was done. Now we have to obtain this qualification on the ground. About me, I have wonderful memories of my time in Morocco (he was coach of the Atlas Lions men’s team from 2016 to 2019, editor’s note). Now, on to football. Even when we play a game with friends, we do it to win it. We are here to qualify. »
