Morocco crowned National Team of the Year

The Atlas Lions have been confirmed as the best team of the year for the period November 2022 – September 2023 at the CAF Awards 2023.

Morocco’s significant rise on the continent was further rec­ognised at the global stage when they stunned world football by impressively reaching the semi-fi­nals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

This is the first time the Mo­roccans are awarded the National Team of the Year award, which comes at a time when the nation is enjoying a great deal of success both on the continent as well as recently at the global stage.

Morocco boss,WalidRegragu­i,was also crowned CAF’s Best Coach of the Year for the men’s category after guiding his country to a historic World Cup semi-final run in Qatar.

The 48-year-old claimed African football’s top individual coaching prize at Monday’s awards ceremony in Marrakech after a remarkable 2022.

Regragui’s incredible impact saw him beat Senegal’s AliouCisse and Algeria’s AbdelhakBenchika to the coaching award.

Cisse was seeking to retain his crown after steering Senegal to AFCON glory last February before a last 16 World Cup run.

But Regragui won polls among coaches and media as his remark­able revolution with Morocco’s talented team claimed another deserved prize.

The Atlas Lions coach took charge of the side just three months before the World Cup but worked wonders to become the first African coach to reach the last four.

Victories over Belgium and Spain highlighted Morocco’s incredible campaign under a coach who has taken the football world by storm.

Regragui had only been ap­pointed by the Morocco Football Federation in August after winning the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League with Wydad Casablanca.

Yet he transformed Morocco from outsiders into trailblazers who came within a whisker of the final before losing to defending champions France. –Cafonline.com

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