Morocco’s coach Bouhdioui: Our mission is very difficult in Egypt 2021
The Moroccan national team is participating in the 27th Men's Handball World Championship in Egypt 2021 after a 14- year absence. The North African team had come in the sixth place in the 2020 African Nations Cup which was held earlier this week in Tunisia. Being among the top six, Morocco will be making a comeback appearance to the World Championship to join the other five African teams in this tournament.
The Moroccans had participated in six previous editions of the World Championships, starting with the 1995 edition in Iceland while their last appearance was at the 2007 edition in Germany.
The Atlas Lions' best achievement was at the 2001 edition in France when they finished 17th in the tournament.
Morocco is led by the national coach Noureddine Bouhadioui, who achieved good results with the team in the African Nations Cup and the World Championships. He is also the one who supervised the team in all its participations in the World Championships. Bouhdioui seeks to show Morocco in the best image after returning to the sport's major international tournament after an absence of 14 years.
Noureddine Bouhadioui spoke to the official website of Egypt 2021, where he said: “The task in the 2021 World Championship with Morocco is very difficult, especially in light of the new Corona virus pandemic, the players weren’t able to train for a long time but now we have started preparing with local players and setting up the program for the World Championship".
“The team has made a return to the World Championship after an absence of 14 years, and I thank God that I was the team supervisor in all the tournaments we participated in." He added
About his vision for the team at the current stage, Bouhdioui explained: "We are now in the stage of preparing and structuring a promising young team capable of demonstrating its capabilities in the African and Arab Championships."
The Atlas Lions coach talked about the tournament's Draw that placed him in Group Six with the teams of Iceland, Portugal and Algeria, where he commented: “I think the Draw is good because it is a global tournament and not a continental one. It is imperative to face strong teams such as Iceland and Portugal, and there is a team close to our level as brotherly Algeria whose match will be the most important for me by virtue of our levels are close”.
Bouhdioui has a clear plan during the preparations for the World Championship, commenting: "My dependence will be on the professional players as well as local players, and my goal is to qualify for the second round of the tournament."
Morocco’s coach had set up a preparatory plan for the national team several months before the tournament, where he stressed: “The preparatory program is very important. We have started preparing in Morocco, then we will travel to France then returning again to Morocco and then to Portugal. A training camp in Egypt will be the last stop”.
Bouhdioui sent a message at the end of the interview, saying: “I want the tournament to be different in terms of competition and everything, and we wish safety for everyone in light of the Corona virus crisis and that God will lift this epidemic from us.” The Moroccan coach concluded.