BUY UZBEKISTAN 2024 TICKETS<\/p>\n
It was the streak that shook a sport. The number was unimaginable; its authors even more so.<\/p>\n
Calcio had been deep in decay. Italy had been humiliated by group-stage elimination at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, and devastated by failure to reach the FIFA World Cup\u2122 for the first time in 60 years. A 1-1 draw with Ukraine in Genoa in October 2018 left La Nazionale having won only one of their last 10 games.<\/p>\n
Then, suddenly, they clicked. Roberto Mancini\u2019s gladiators \u2013 Gianluigi Donnarumma, Giorgio Chiellini, Nicolo Barella, Marco Verratti, Federico Chiesa and Co \u2013 proved unconquerable. The Azzurri made it 10 matches unbeaten, then 20, and then broke their personal best of 30, set by Vittorio Pozzo\u2019s back-to-back world champions in 1939.<\/p>\n
Italy moved one shy of the 35-game world record, which Brazil had set in 1996 and Spain had equalled in 2009, by overcoming England in the UEFA EURO final in 2021, before breaking it two months later. The run was finally ended, at a staggering 37 games, when La Roja won 2-1 in Milan.<\/p>\n
Spain recently snapped another sequence \u2013 one longer and even more ludicrous. It wasn\u2019t set by a court colossus like Argentina, Brazil or Portugal, but by a side few feared when it began in November 2022.<\/p>\n
Yet, despite facing Argentina twice, Italy twice, France and IR Iran among others, Morocco implausibly went 50 matches undefeated until Adolfito inspired Spain to a 4-2 victory in Rabat last week. That run was indebted to Soufian Charraoui, who finished as the top scorer as Hicham Dguig\u2019s charges conquered the CAF Futsal AFCON in exhilarating style in April and headlined a revenge-seizing 4-1 reverse of Spain two days after their unblemished cycle crashed.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old chats to FIFA about his and Morocco\u2019s form, the \u201ccrazy\u201d passion for futsal in the country, facing Portugal and his belief they can win Uzbekistan 2024.Despite playing Argentina twice, Italy twice, France, Iran and others, Morocco recently had their unbeaten run ended at a truly remarkable 50 games. What do you think of that?
\nSoufian Charraoui: I think it was unbelievable. We weren\u2019t playing against smaller teams but against Iran, Argentina, Italy, France. It was really special. We train a lot, we work really hard. The coach prepares us for every single game. We want to win every single game. But of course you never think you\u2019re going to go 50 games without losing. It\u2019s hard to believe we made that happen. The coach started something 10, 15 years ago. We suffered a great deal to get to where we are now. The run was down to all the hard work that has been put in over a long period. I think in these last couple of years we\u2019ve really shown what we can do. We have a great team with great players \u2013 for me, the best set of players in the world \u2013 and the number-one coach in the world. We\u2019re very excited for this World Cup.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Hicham Dguig like to work with?
\nHe’s an amazing, amazing man. We have learned a lot from him and continue to learn from him. He gets the best out of us. Everyone has a lot of respect for him and our other coaches. We are like his children. We travel a lot, we suffer a lot, we go long spells without seeing our family, so he is like a father for us. We\u2019re a big family.<\/p>\n
What do you think of Soufiane El Mesrar?
\n\u2018El Capitano\u2019! He\u2019s an amazing player, an amazing person. The first time I got into the Morocco squad, he spent a lot of time talking to me. I really appreciated that. He\u2019s always talking to the younger players, giving them advice. Everyone has a lot of respect for him. He has a lot of experience. This will be his fourth World Cup. On the court, he\u2019s an excellent player, he makes a big difference in games and he\u2019s crucial for Morocco.<\/p>\n
Can you tell us about the passion for futsal in Morocco?
\nIt’s absolutely crazy. In Brazil, everyone loves futsal, everyone loves their players. It\u2019s now the same in Morocco. Obviously I\u2019m Moroccan, but I really believe we have the best support in the world. When we\u2019re at the airport, in training sessions, walking around on the streets, everyone wants to take a picture with every player, the coach. Moroccans are very passion about every sport. With futsal, we went 50 games unbeaten, we have this beautiful playing style, a lot of great players, a great coach. It\u2019s made people crazy about us. It\u2019s really special to us.You were the top scorer at the Futsal AFCON, have been in outstanding form thereafter, headlined the 4-1 win over Spain last week. How happy are you on a personal level?
\nI think I\u2019m in the best shape of my life. I was playing in the LNFS in Spain. I made the choice to come back to Morocco because I wanted to train with my coach every week. For me it was the best choice of my life. I train with my coach all the time, talk to him a lot. I feel amazing. I was very happy with my performances at the African championship and against Spain. I hope I can maintain this level and help the team at the World Cup. I hope to be a part of it. It would be my first World Cup, so that is extra special. I\u2019m very excited.<\/p>\n
How much of a blow was it losing Youssef Jouad and Bilal Bakkali to injury?
\nYoussef Jouad and Bilal Bakkali are key players for us. They are very important players and, for me, two of the best in the world in their positions. They could play for any club in the world. It\u2019s very hard for us because we need them, but we have faith. We believe everything happens for a reason. They\u2019re not with us on the court, but they\u2019re in our hearts and we will fight for them. We have other great players who are stepping up now. We beat Spain, one of the best teams in the world, without them. They are with us in the training centre, we see them every day, and they will be in our hearts for every second we play at the World Cup. We feel them with us.<\/p>\n
You said after the AFCON that you believed Morocco could win Uzbekistan 2024. Is that still the case?
\nOf course. I think we have the best team in the world and the best coach in the world. Winning a World Cup is obviously not easy. You have Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Kazakhstan. I think eight or nine teams could win this World Cup. At the last World Cup, the team made history. We reached the quarter-finals and played an incredible match against Brazil. We lost 1-0, it was really close. I think the team has improved so much since then. When you get to the knockout phase of a World Cup, if you make a little mistake, the best teams will punish you. One mistake could knock you out. We\u2019ve talked about this, we\u2019re going to do everything to remain concentrated and not make mistakes. We\u2019re not underestimating how difficult it will be to win the World Cup, but we\u2019ll do everything to finish first in our group and then get the title. I believe we can do it.<\/p>\n
Morocco will face Portugal in the group stage. What do you think of this Portugal team?
\nThey\u2019re an incredible team. They have a very good coach. They have so many amazing players. I think every player in their squad is very good. They don\u2019t have a weakness. Tactically they are very strong, they\u2019re very strong defensively, they have a lot of experience. They have speed, skill, movement, excellent finishing. I really like the way they play. Their style is very fun to watch. They remind me a little bit of Morocco. I like their country very much. I think Portugal against Morocco will be an amazing game for the fans.<\/p>\n
Which Portugal player are you most impressed by?
\nThey have a lot of great players. I like Zicky a lot. He\u2019s only young, but he\u2019s already done a lot to help Portugal. He\u2019s a very dangerous player.<\/p>\n
Who do you regard as Morocco\u2019s biggest rivals for the title?
\nI think there\u2019s very little between Brazil, Spain and Portugal. If I have to choose one, I\u2019ll say Portugal.<\/p>\n
Who do you rate as the best three players in the world right now?
\nPito of course. He\u2019s an outstanding player. Ferrao was always one of the best players before his injury. Now he\u2019s back and I\u2019d have him in the top three. You could name a lot of players for the third spot, but I\u2019ll go with Zicky.<\/p>\n
Finally, do you take inspiration from what Morocco achieved at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar?
\nIt was unbelievable. We talk a lot about it. It showed that all the hard work they put in, all the belief they had was worth it. It\u2019s something we take a lot of inspiration from. It was very special for all Moroccans. Now we want to do something very special for all the Moroccans who gives us this amazing support. I think what the football did a couple of years ago in Qatar will help us a lot at this World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BUY UZBEKISTAN 2024 TICKETS It was the streak that shook a sport. The number was unimaginable; its authors even more so. Calcio had been deep in decay. Italy had been humiliated by group-stage elimination at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, and devastated by failure to reach the FIFA World Cup\u2122 for the first time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1014156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-1014155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1014155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1014156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1014155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1014155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1014155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}