Morocco Coach Responds to Critics About Style of Play With Guardiola Dig

• Walid Regragui's Morocco boasts the best defensive record among the four semifinalists, conceding just a goal in five games
• The 47-year-old manager, who guided Morocco to a historic semifinal berth, believes possession is misleading
• His side will come face to face with defending world champions France for a spot in the Grand Finale

Walid Regragui has aimed a jibe at detractors lamenting his style of play ahead of Morocco's semifinal tie against France on Wednesday, December 14.

Regragui has been accused of playing a 'negative' brand of football, adopting a pragmatic approach throughout their impressive World Cup campaign.

In response to accusations that his side plays too defensively, Regragui said that “we’re going to play like we know how” as quoted by Get French Football News.

He continued: “Possession is extraordinarily misleading – you can have 70% possession and you only shoot twice. There's expected goals too: ‘We should have won, we had 4 expected goals! We’re here to win, that’s all.”

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The 47-year-old tactician then aimed a jibe at Man City boss Pep Guardiola, saying that “It’s certain when you have Kevin De Bruyne or Bernardo Silva that you have the ball, Pep Guardiola drove me crazy too!”

“France made me dream in 2018 in the way they played, Deschamps understood how to do it.” This was before he finished off his point by saying “let’s stop with the statistics,” he decried.

Regragui confident of semifinal scalp

Morocco manager Walid Regragui is optimistic about guiding his side to the finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Regragui labelled his team as “the Rocky Balboa of this World Cup” after becoming the first African nation to reach the semifinals of Mundial after upsetting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.

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The 47-year-old tactician is upbeat about his side's chances of further upsetting the odds when they cross paths with France in Wednesday's semifinal tie, according to Get French Football News.

Morocco coach reveals winning recipe

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has opened up on the motivation behind his side's stunning 2022 World Cup campaign.

The Atlas Lions have been in flawless form in Qatar, with the side inking their names in history books following their win over Portugal on Saturday.

The north Africans silenced Portugal 1-0 during their quarter-final meeting to become the first country on the continent to advance to the last four in the history of the tournament.