The national team is ready for football with high-level players. Unfortunately, from a moral point of view, the atmosphere was cut with a knife …
Immediately after the elimination of the Atlas Lions from 1990 World Cup qualifiers in Italy, coach Antonio Angelillo was fired. He was later replaced by the German Olk Werner, who arrived with a new vision and a system worthy of the football spirit of Germany.
Werner began by recruiting young players from the junior national team who had just won an Arab competition, the Palestine Cup, under the leadership of national executive Abdelghani Naciri. This is how the public will discover Noureddine Naybet, Khalid Raghib, Tahar Lakhlej, Said Roukbi, Ahmed Bahja, Hicham Dmiî, together with Khalil Azmi, Aziz Bouderbala, Abdelmjid Bouybod, Fakhreddine Rajhi and many others.
This army will in turn be eliminated by the 1992 CAN in Senegal and Olk Werner is expelled. Once again a national executive was called in the person of the late Abdelkhalek Louzani. An established trainer, rich in diplomas, with a great deal of experience gained in Belgium. Especially since he had just finished a good season with Kawkab Marrakech by winning the national championship.
Louzani will do a good job recognized by all, given the clear and clear change with a new, close-knit and problem-free line-up.
A Moroccan at the controls
Curiously, and in full swing with the 1994 World Cup qualification scheduled in the United States, Louzani was expelled (due to a foggy intervention) just before the last match against Zambia to win the ticket for the World Cup. He is replaced by his late colleague Abdallah Blinda who leads the Lions to victory over Zambia to fly to the United States.
The national team is ready with high-level players such as Mustapha Hajji, Hassan Nader, Rachid Daoudi, Ahmed Bahja, Abdelkrim Hadrioui, Rachd Azzouzi, etc. Unfortunately, on the moral side, the atmosphere was cut with a knife, due to organizational problems, last minute choices, exclusion of some players, improvised decisions … Result of the races: three games three defeats, against Holland, Belgium and Saudi Arabia. This, knowing that these three opponents were far within the reach of the Lions, in terms of play, but the unhealthy environment in which the players and all the staff lived made the return home quick. It was the weakest performance for Morocco in a World Cup.
