Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouhbi confirmed that "losing to a team the size of France is possible" after exiting the World Cup in the quarter-finals, expressing pride in his players and their ability to "become stronger" after the elimination.

Ouhbi said in a press conference after the 2-0 loss to France in Boston: "France is a very strong team. We faced them twice in the World Cup, and French football is high-level; history shows its strength and consistency."

He added: "As for the Moroccan national team, it is under construction. After the World Cup, it will become stronger. Losing to a team of this size is possible, but it gives us motivation to develop."

The national coach continued: "We are upset because our journey stopped here and we wanted to continue, but I am proud of what we did and the ideas we presented since March," referring to his taking over from his compatriot Walid Regragui, who achieved the historic feat of reaching the semi-finals before falling to the Blues 0-2 in the Qatar World Cup.

Ouhbi explained that the players "gave their all. We wanted to do a lot with the ball, but we must acknowledge the strength of the opponent and its coach Didier Deschamps. I told them to hold their heads high because we tried and gave everything, and we must continue and face objective criticism because we hope to go further. We have other goals, and we must continue working to achieve them."

He pointed out that his country's team lacked "a lot in the match and did not show its usual level. The French team stopped our rhythm, but we must continue working to succeed, and we have the ingredients for that."

Related news

Ouhbi highlighted that "the first ten minutes were very difficult for us because they increased the pace and created problems for us on the flanks. When we saw the ball moving faster, we had to run more. I felt that the players were gasping."

He added: "I wanted to make some adjustments at halftime, and when I spoke to the players, I felt they were in good shape. I wanted them to go further. In the second half, our performance improved on the flanks, we ran more, advanced deeper, and controlled the ball, but we must admit that the opposing team was very strong."

He continued: "We could have played at a faster pace, but we did what we could. We moved better. We tried to control the ball as much as possible. We had good performance during transitions. We tried to be more creative. We continued to experiment with new ideas to develop our style of play."

He pointed out that "we intended to develop our attacking performance more. As I said, I don't prepare a team only for defense or attack. Depending on the match context and our feeling, we change the style of play. So we didn't feel that we were unable to advance, but that didn't worry me. At the start of the second half, we were better defensively, but we didn't advance enough. Injuries also affected the players. This is a step forward. We cannot play all matches at the same level; we have a young team. We will continue to develop and we have the potential."

He said: "We wanted to show more in the World Cup, to present a better level, but France was stronger. It is a good experience for the young players and for me as a novice coach in this tournament. I am proud of what we delivered against world-class coaches like Italian Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil coach) and Deschamps."