Morocco Coach dismisses Aguerd injury talk, backs Ait Boudlal ahead of Mali test

VIDEO SHOWS: TRAINING SESSIONS AND NEWS CONFERENCES BEFORE THE AFCON GROUP MATCH BETWEEN MOROCCO AND MALI RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: RABAT, MOROCCO (DECEMBER 25, 2025) (STATS PERFORM – Access all) 1. MOROCCO HEAD COACH, WALID REGRAGUI, ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE, WITH DEFENDER, ABDELHAMID AIT BOUDLAL 2. (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOROCCO HEAD COACH, WALID REGRAGUI, SAYING: “You’re asking me about Nayef (Aguerd) and I don’t know why. Do you have information about Nayef or what? Nayef has been training normally since the last match. There’s nothing to be concerned apart from Romain (Saiss) who felt a little muscle strain and (Hamza) Igamane whose injury we are managing about but he’s on track. And Achraf (Hakimi) is continuing his recovery. He’s well, he’s coming back well. So we’re getting Achraf ready and like I told you, we’re on the same page. As for whether he’ll play tomorrow? We will make the best decision for him. We want to have Achraf for the duration of the tournament not just one match. So apart from Romain everything is going well." 3. REGRAGUI POSING WITH AIT BOUDLAL 4.  (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOROCCO HEAD COACH, WALID REGRAGUI, ON ABDELHAMID AIT BOUDLAL, SAYING: “I’ve known young Abdelhamid since he was little because he played against my club’s youth teams. He’s a huge talent as we know in Morocco but there’s lots of fans who maybe don’t know that because his progress has had its ups and downs. But we're certain that we have a gem for the future, and why not for the present too, if that answers the question about tomorrow's match? But for me, I called him up (…) I think I called him up as year of so ago when he with Rennes' reserve team and was training a bit with the pros. We had just come out of the World Cup and I was heavily criticised for calling up an 18-year-old kid for the national team who had played just one professional match. But now everyone is asking for the youngster to start, so it's good that we have a vision. We know what we’re doing and we're going to support him. The most important thing is not to burn him out, because he has enormous potential. We mustn't burn him out as he progresses, and that means bringing him on at the right time. Sometimes you have to bring him on in matches that are easy, at least on the face of it, and sometimes you have to bring him on in difficult matches so that we know right away what he's made of. So is he going to start tomorrow? He'll tell me he wants to but we'll see. In any case, he's someone for whom I have high hopes for Moroccan football, God willing.” 5. MOROCCO PLAYERS PASSING BALL AROUND IN CIRCLE 6. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS GATHERING TOGETHER INTO HUDDLE 7. REGRAGUI GIVING PLAYERS INSTRUCTIONS, HUDDLE BREAKING UP 8. VARIOUS OF REGRAGUI WATCHING OVER WARM-UPS 9.  HAMZA IGAMANE WARMING UP 10. AIT BOUDLAL, DEFENDER, JAWAD EL YAMIQ, AND MIDFIELDERS, NEIL EL AYNAOUI, AND, SOFYAN AMRABAT 11. NAYEF AGUERD KICKING BALL AWAY 12. JAWAD EL YAMIQ AND DEFENDER, NOUSSAIR MAZRAOUI, WARMING UP 13. VARIOUS OF REGRAGUI TALKING TO ASSISTANT COACH AS PLAYERS WARM UP 14. ACHRAF HAKIMI WARMING UP 15. MALI HEAD COACH, TOM SAINTFIET, AND CAPTAIN, YVES BISSOUMA, ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE 16. SAINTFIET AND BISSOUMA SEATED 17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) MALI HEAD COACH, TOM SAINTFIET, SAYING: “Right now we have one point so we’ll have to do some calculations. It’s clear that if we win tomorrow we can win the group. And then we can play in Rabat, the route that was set up for Morocco to reach the final. It’s the easiest route. Whoever wins this group is going to play against Uganda or Tanzania. With all due respect, they’re easier matches en route the final in Rabat.” 18. SAINTFIET POSING WITH BISSOUMA 19. (SOUNDBITE) (French) MALI HEAD COACH, TOM SAINTFIET, SAYING:  “You know how to ask it and who to ask it. I'm very—he's also shocked, I see—but I'm also very shocked with it. I'm very disappointed. 1957 was the first AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) and since that period, every two years there was an AFCON. And it's the pride of African football. The best players from Africa who perform or be at the big clubs in Europe come together. The celebrations of the fans, the honour and the glory of Africa football. To take it away and to go to every four years, I could understand if it was a question from Africa, if it was a request for any reason needed by the African players, the African federations, or even CAF. But it's all instructed by the big people in UEFA, the big clubs from the five (biggest) leagues in Europe, and also by FIFA. And that makes it so sad. We fight so long to get respected in Africa. African people to get respected, Africans with their own intensity. And then to listen to Europe to change your history, because this is a history from 67, 68 years. To change that only for a financial request from the pressure of clubs who give as excuse the load for players but who create a World Cup for club football teams with 40 teams, who create a Champions League with no champions. If you don't (get) relegated in England, you play already Europa Cup football, almost. So stupid it is. If you want really to protect players, then you have to play Champions League with only champions and no one else. Then you have to not create every few years new leagues where players get more loads and then you can still play a competition that exists for more than 60 years on a two years basis because Africa is the biggest football continent in the world. The passion of football, the quality of the players, the history of all African players, all the big stars in Europe are Africans. So, I think we miss respect by going to four years. I'm very sad about that. I had hoped that the love for Africa would win above the pressure of Europe.” 20. SAINTFIET POSING WITH BISSOUMA 21. SAINTFIET AT TRAINING SESSION 22. PLAYERS IN HUDDLE 23. VARIOUS OF SAINTFIET TALKING IN HUDDLE 24. HUDDLE BREAKING UP 25. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS WARMING UP 26. FORWARD, GAOUSSOU DIAKITE, DOING KEEPIE-UPS 27. WINGER, GAOUSSOU DIARRA 28. BISSOUMA WITH TEAMMATES 29. MIDFIELDER, MAMADOU SANGARE, POINTING 30. DIAKITE RUNNING WARM-UP DRILL FOLLOWED BY SANGARE 31. PLAYERS WARMING UP 32. SAINTFIET WATCHING OVER WARM-UPS 33. BISSOUMA AND DIARRA WARMING UP 34. BISSOUMA WALKING PAST STORY: Morocco coach Walid Regragui has dismissed reports that defender Nayef Aguerd is injured, saying the centre back was fit and ready for Friday’s (December 26) Africa Cup of Nations Group A clash against Mali. "Who told you Aguerd is injured? He’s training as usual and has no problems," Regragui told reporters. Regragui confirmed captain Romain Saiss will miss the game with a muscle injury sustained against Comoros in their tournament opener, while full back Achraf Hakimi, recently crowned African Player of the Year, is recovering from an ankle problem sustained with Paris St Germain last month and could feature briefly. "Hakimi is doing well and we’ll make the best decision for him," Regragui said. The coach also heaped praise on 19-year-old defender Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal, calling him "a great talent". "I’ve been following him for years. I called him up a year and a half ago when he was a substitute at Rennes and people criticized me. Today everyone is praising him – that shows our vision is long-term," Regragui said. "We must not burn the player. We’ll use him at the right time. We’ll see if he starts tomorrow or comes in later." Morocco opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Comoros and will secure qualification with victory over Mali at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium. Mali's head coach Tom Saintfiet, meanwhile, hit out at the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) decision to hold future editions every four years instead of two.  The shock announcement was made by CAF president Patrice Motsepe on the eve of the tournament opener in a move to better align the competition with the European c…

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