Faced with a reshuffled match schedule following Eritrea’s withdrawal from the World Cup qualifiers, national coach Hoalid Regragui spoke out to clarify the situation and explain the choice of Bahrain as a sparring partner.
Regragui pointed out the gap created by Eritrea’s absence, which forced him to look for another opponent for this FIFA date. The Moroccan coach then justified the choice of Bahrain, stressing the difficulty of finding available teams during an international date reserved for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and pointed out that this match is part of the Atlas Lions’ preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Morocco.
“As you know, we initially had an official match against the Eritrean team, but it was canceled due to their withdrawal at the start of the qualifiers. So we made sure to arrange a friendly in order to have two tests during this double FIFA date. We therefore have a friendly against Bahrain and another (official) one against Congo. As for Bahrain, I need to explain this choice for a friendly: why this team? why didn’t we bring in another one?”
Distance and conflict with international fixtures
“We are in a FIFA date. In European countries, no team is available since they are all playing qualification matches. The same goes for African teams. That left South America or Asia. As for the South American teams, none were available to travel to Morocco. The same with Asia: we had the opportunity to go to Japan or South Korea, but with the match scheduled on Tuesday, it was very difficult to travel there, and we also prefer to play in Morocco, where the Africa Cup of Nations will be held. We had also reached an agreement with Uzbekistan, which would have been a good test since they are qualified for the World Cup, but in the end, after the last FIFA date, they refused to come.”
Given the complexity of finding strong and available opponents, Regragui concluded his explanation by justifying the choice of Bahrain. He first recalled the respectable ranking of the Asian team, positioned around 88th in the FIFA standings, stressing that this level is “much better than that of some African teams we have faced.” Continuing his argument, the coach stated that Bahrain would be a good sparring partner for the Atlas Lions, as they managed to create difficulties for serious opponents during the World Cup qualifiers, notably Saudi Arabia and Australia. Ultimately, Regragui described this match as a good test, concluding with the hope of winning both games and maintaining the winning momentum.
