Wahbi: "Happy Our Goal is World Cup Preparation and Winning Matches; We'll Focus on Positives and Continue Working"
Morocco national team coach Mohamed Wahbi expressed his happiness following the "Atlas Lions'" 2-1 friendly victory over Paraguay, affirming that the primary objective remains World Cup preparation, alongside achieving positive results.
Wahbi stated in his post-match comments: "We are happy, because as I said from the beginning, we are preparing for the World Cup, but at the same time, we want to win matches." He emphasized the importance of balancing preparation with results.
The national coach explained that the technical staff made several changes during the match without altering the entire lineup. He said: "We made changes, but we didn't want to change the entire team, because that is also important. When we change a large number of players, they are not always in the best conditions to showcase their potential."
He added: "We maintained 3 or 4 key players to facilitate the integration of some young players. It was important to maintain balance and give everyone an opportunity."
Wahbi affirmed that during this training camp, he aimed to increase the level of competition among the players, stating: "I wanted the players to make my decision more difficult regarding the squad selection for the World Cup, through good performance and achieving victory."
He also praised Paraguay's performance, highlighting the difficulty of the match: "We played against a strong team, more cohesive and aggressive, and they didn't leave us many options, especially in the first half."
Speaking about the match's progression, he explained: "In the first half, we tried to reach the goal, then we corrected some things at halftime, and a clear improvement was visible in the second half."
Regarding the substitutions, he said: "I wanted to give some players minutes, and perhaps the intensity dropped a little, which is normal in friendly matches after the 65th minute." He added: "We will focus on the positives and continue working."
He also revealed the instructions he gave at halftime: "I asked the players to be patient, while correcting some details in positioning and creating speed in play."
Wahbi concluded by emphasizing the importance of continuous work, saying: "We will continue to closely monitor the players to ensure their readiness for the World Cup. Some will get more minutes and others less, so there must be precise follow-up." He added: "We still have a lot of work ahead, but we are ready for this challenge."
