It is not so easy growing up in Corbeil-Essonnes, a Parisian district, 20 miles south of the city centre, where the River Seine flows. There was a rave scene there for a time, 20 years back, but the unremitting fight against gang violence is one that the banlieues know all too well.
Walid Regragui, Morocco’s manager, who grew up in there, was reluctant to dwell on the struggle on Tuesday. ‘I don’t want to talk about those issues — social exclusion, people who have come up in difficult suburbs,’ he said. ‘Yes, I was from that neighbourhood and sometimes you have to fight harder than other people to get somewhere in life. I’m not complaining.’
But his emergence as arguably the outstanding manager of this tournament, and the most eloquent by some distance, has delivered optimism and hope to the thousands of Moroccans in such unprepossessing places across Europe, who will be urging the team on against France on Wednesday night.
Morocco boss Walid Regragui is dreaming of writing history against France on Wednesday
Regragui’s optimism is infectious and the chemistry between him and his midfielder, the QPR player Ilias Chair, explained a lot about the team’s success when the two sat down to discuss the semi-final.
‘The coach says everything!’ Chair said, grinning, towards the end of Regragui’s often spell-binding oration, during which the 25-year-old’s main contribution was occasionally helping the manager with his forays into English.
Above all, Regragui wanted to say that this journey is by no means over. He said: ‘We want to try to get rid of the mentality where we are happy just to reach the semi-final and say, “That will be enough”. We have come to change mindsets in our continent.
Morocco became the first African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals last week
Now Regragui and his unlikely semi-finalists will bid to go one step further against France
The world champions are standing in Morocco’s way of a historic appearance in the final
‘We have confidence. You may say I’m mad crazy, but a bit of craziness is good. We are confident. We are not tired. We want to go further. I don’t want to wait another 40 years for an African team to have another press conference like this and answer questions about a semi-final.’
He wanted to speak of Morocco and of Islam, too. During those Corbeil-Essonnes years, he did not know the country so well. Family summer holidays there were his only experience.
His actions have spoken even louder than words in conveying a sense of the place. Making his players’ mothers so central to the picture has said so much in these past weeks. ‘It’s an opportunity to show how we are with our mothers and wives,’ he said. ‘This is important. A lot of people don’t understand our culture and we want to show it.’
Regragui, who was born in a Parisian district, has been one of the managers of the tournament
He played alongside current France striker Olivier Giroud (L) during their time at Grenoble
And then there is the team’s resolve — rooted in the Arabic concept which sounds like nia and has no exact translation but which is defined by faith and means ‘completeness of spirit’. Regragui urged the 300 people in the room to look this word up. ‘This is what we have and draw from in Morocco,’ he said.
France won the 1998 World Cup with their Black-Blanc-Beur team, which drew on players of north African descent but now Morocco is trying to claim members of the diaspora as its own.
They have worked meticulously for eight years in scouting and recruiting them, with the country’s former technical director Nasser Larguet appointing talent- spotters including Ahmed Chouari, a former coach at Toulouse.
While other African nations have tried to recruit by offering big money to players rejected by their countries of birth, Morocco concentrated on finding players as young as 14. It was not about money, Larguet insisted. There are no ‘large cheques’ being dished out.
There are sneers from the football establishment, of course, about Morocco’s brand of football despite the first-half counter-attacking prowess against Portugal in the quarter-final.
‘It’s amazing how you, the football journalists, love these possession figures — but that’s no good if you only have four shots,’ Regragui said, when asked if Morocco would be looking to have the ball more in the semi-final.
He has no plans of scrapping the defensive setup which got them past Portugal last time out
Regragui will be carrying the hopes of Moroccans in Corbeil-Essonnes on Wednesday night
‘You talk about these expected goals — but that’s no good if the player misses four chances. Pep Guardiola was my hero, too, for a time, but when you have Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and other world-class players, that is possible.
‘We know a lot of European journalists have criticised our style of play and they don’t like a team of our stature playing cleverly. But there isn’t just one way to win any more. I think we were given a 0.01 per cent chance of winning the World Cup at the outset. Now we have 0.03 per cent. Well, we are going to destroy the statistics.’
Regragui carries the hopes of Moroccans in Corbeil-Essonnes and so many places like it, for whom victory over France would be special. ‘If people from difficult neighbourhoods in Europe and Africa can be inspired by my story that’s great,’ Regragui said. ‘Sometimes, where you come from can make you hungry.’