Yassine Bounou, the goalkeeper of the Moroccan national team, admitted France's superiority after the Atlas Lions exited the World Cup, confirming that the Moroccan national team failed to execute its plan against an opponent who excelled technically and physically.
Yassine Bounou
Club: Al-Hilal
The French national team achieved a valuable 2-0 victory over Morocco in the quarter-finals to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals.
Bounou said on the Argentine channel D Sport: "We faced a team that outperformed us, that's the truth, even tactically we couldn't impose our superiority because they excelled in all aspects, well, we have to accept it, go back to work and rebuild, and congratulate the opponent".
He continued, "It's not easy because in every match we lose an important and key player, we knew in our match against France that we couldn't get drawn into the fast, reciprocal style of play because they are better than us, and they are superior athletically and physically, so our idea was to keep possession of the ball".
He added, "We defended by controlling the ball so we could penetrate their last defensive line and create chances, but we couldn't do that, we couldn't because we weren't at our best, whether technically or mentally, and in a tournament like the World Cup, these details are unforgivable unfortunately, especially against a team like France".
He revealed, "Football is like that, and today we have to accept the reality that the opponent was far superior to us, and as I mentioned, we have to go back to work and rebuild based on the feelings we are going through now".
Regarding saving the penalty from Kylian Mbappé, he said: "The idea was to wait a little and make a feint to see, because I knew he was looking at me, but he wasn't looking until the last moment".
He continued, "The idea was to plant a little doubt in himself, and at the last moment I made my decision, and fortunately things went well, in the end, football sometimes gives you moments where you succeed in saving them, and well you know very well what it means to be a goalkeeper".
He added, "In the end, whenever we practice penalties with my teammates, I try to read the general feeling of the day, and then based on this feeling we try to act, but I always say, there is a very big factor of luck and fortune in penalties".
He concluded his statements, "We must not forget that we came out of a difficult Africa Cup of Nations with everything that happened there, and it wasn't easy mentally, but the team rebuilt itself mentally and was able to face this World Cup, I think today we fell to a very, very strong opponent, and as I told you, we have to accept this".
France's brace was scored by: Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, to qualify Les Bleus to the semi-finals and await the winner of Spain and Belgium, while the Moroccan national team's journey stops at the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
