Despite the unexpected elimination of the Moroccan national football team from the Africa Cup of Nations held in Ivory Coast last month, with the championship ultimately won by the team, coach Walid El-Rakrakii still enjoys the support of the majority of Moroccans to remain at the helm of the Atlas Lions.
These findings were revealed by the results of a poll conducted by the online newspaper Hespress following the humiliating exit of the Atlas Lions from the AFCON, defeated by the Bafana Bafana in the first test of the knockout stage.
The poll posed a direct question to its readers, with 68.88% of respondents expressing their positive support for El-Rakrakii, while 31.12% opposed his continued leadership.
The poll results reflect the mixed feelings of the Moroccan public towards El-Rakrakii after the disappointing AFCON campaign, which brought Moroccans and their national team back to reality after a year and a few months of jubilation following the historic achievement of reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
This campaign highlighted the continued African challenge and the long history of the Atlas Lions’ failures in African jungles.
Commenting on the matter, sports analyst Badr Eddine El-Idrissi stated that the federation has renewed its confidence in Walid El-Rakrakii as the coach and selector of the national team, aiming to provide the team with technical stability as it faces significant challenges ahead.
He emphasized the importance of qualifying for the World Cup for the third consecutive time and winning the Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held in Morocco.
El-Idrissi added that the federation also trusts that Walid is still suitable for the task, but the minor exit from the recent AFCON, losing to South Africa, has created a crack in the relationship between the Moroccan fans and the coach.
He explained that the 31% who voted against El-Rakrakii’s continuation as coach roughly indicates that a third of Moroccans are not in favor of his continuation, suggesting that this group is not convinced that Walid can win the upcoming challenges.
El-Idrissi further expressed his belief that El-Rakrakii is a young national coach who deserves appreciation and praise for the achievement of the team in participating in the World Cup.
However, he also deserves criticism for the team’s lackluster and disappointing performance in the AFCON, as well as the mistakes he made in managing the group and the matches.
This is to ensure the happiness of the Moroccan fans and to meet their expectations, especially after the coach himself set the bar “very high.”
