Africa’s Biggest Football Payday Beckons to Morocco 

* Regragui insists: ‘S’final ticket result of hard work and not miracle’ 

After his wards defeated Portugal 1-0 to make history as first African country to reach the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup, Head Coach of Morocco’s senior football team, Walid Regragui, has insisted that the victory of the Atlas Lions was not a miracle but the result of hard work. 

Speaking at the post match late on Saturday night, Regragui said for a team that played Croatia, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal without letting in a goal, it was unfair to call Morocco’s victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s team a miracle. 

“It’s no miracle. Many will say it’s a miracle, especially in Europe, but we’ve played Croatia, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal without letting in a goal,” the 47-year-old insisted after the match. 

The Moroccan gaffer attributed the fairy-tale run of the Atlas Lions at Qatar 2022 to hard-work and careful planning.  “That’s not a miracle, it’s the result of hard work. We’ve made our people happy and proud, the continent happy and proud, and so many people around the world happy.” 

Regragui called the Atlas Lions the ‘Rocky Balboa of the World Cup’. 

“When you watch Rocky (movie), you support him because of his heart and commitment. We are the Rocky of this World Cup,” stressed the clean-shaven coach. 

Now, even if Morocco fail at the semi-final hurdle against defending champions France on Wednesday, the Atlas Lions are guaranteed to return to Rabat with a cool $25,000 (about N11.1billion) as prize money from Qatar 2022. This is the biggest payday in African football. 

Their worst classification at the Qatar 2022 will be the losing of the Third-place match which will rank the team as the fourth overall at this tournament. And the prize money for the fourth placed team is $25 million (which is about N11.1billion). 

What they will earn here in the Semi Final and third place match (that is if they fail to reach the final match is more than the prize money paid to Italy at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. 

Should they overcome France and be in the frame to win the biggest prize in football, a $42 million jackpot. By losing the final, Morocco will still get $30 million. 

In the event they lose to France in the semi-finals and win the third place duel, Morocco will win $27 million.