Morocco coach Reynald Pedros hailed his team’s win over Colombia as “absolutely fabulous”, said he was looking forward to the last-16 meeting against France and that the progress of his team was a massive boost for women’s football in the Arab world.
Morocco pulled off a major shock on Thursday as they not only beat Colombia, but finished second in Group H after power house Germany were held by South Korea and crashed out in a huge upset.
Morocco are the third African country to advance to the last-16 where they will take on France in Adelaide on Tuesday.
“To be the first Arab country to do this at the World Cup is exceptional. Tonight was absolutely fabulous,” he said of the 1-0 win in Perth.
Morocco’s progress was made even more miraculous by the fact they had lost their opening game at the World Cup 6-0 to Germany as they looked out of their depth.
“I think that the result versus Germany was definitely because emotions were definitely overwhelming for us. And we didn't manage to play the way we usually play.
“But we mobilised the players after, we helped them to be motivated again and we explain to them that it was the group stage, with two more games to play.
“We worked a lot and we got the ticket to have a small final somehow against Colombia. And we knew that if even if we were to beat Colombia, we would need Germany not to win against Korea. So at the end of the day, we didn't really think about Germany, to be honest with you.”
But Pedros said Thursday’s progress could only be the start of more to come
“You know, getting six points in this World Cup was something exceptional, and we knew we had to play this game to win it. And maybe destiny will help us to go further.
“We are extremely proud to represent Monaco in the next phase and being in the last 16.”
Pedros is a former France international and said taking on the country of his birth would be “special”.
“I can tell you that I know the French team very well, maybe this is something that will help us. But this is a very strong team. They have very high level players with great experience. So it's going to be very, very, very difficult game to play. But if we keep the same mindset as we have today, we can hope.”
He was also asked at the post-match press conference about what Morocco’s success would do for women’s football in the Arab world.
“This is such a beautiful display that we're putting on. Why? Because all of these players are working with all their heart. All of these players are proud to put on that jersey. All of these players are doubling their efforts because they love their country. It is something that is of huge importance and obviously, it's great to be a wonderful example,” the coach added.
“But we need to continue with this, we're not going to stop here, we need to see progression. We're going to continue with our adventure here. And then we'll see what happens when we get back. But once again, the game this evening was fantastic. It was fantastic. For lots of different reasons.”
