African football legends praise Morocco in World Cup 2022

Several retired football players appearing at the Fifa Legends Cup at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha on Thursday praised Morocco for reaching the World Cup semi-finals.

Morocco eliminated the likes of Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their way to a first ever semi-final appearance by an African nation in the history of the tournament before falling 2-0 to France on Wednesday night.

Former Cameroon star Geremi Njitap said: “Morocco are a very good team. The results they achieved in Qatar is because of good investment in football. They have shown the way for Africa by making it to the semi-finals.”

Njitap, 43, played for Cameroon between 1996 and 2000. He won the Uefa Champions League with Real Madrid and also featured for Chelsea and Newcastle United.

Former France international Christian Karembeu, who is now a sporting director at Olympiacos, singled out Morocco coach Walid Regragui for praise.

“It shows the tremendous work the coach has done with Morocco. It shows that African teams have the potential to excel at the World Cup.”

Karembeu, 52, who was born in the French territory of Caledonia, won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro Championship with Les Bleus..

He played his club football with Nantes, Sampdoria, Real Madrid and Olympiacos among other top teams in Europe.

The Fifa Legends Cup, featuring over 100 retired greats will end on Friday, paving the way for the World Cup third place play-off on Saturday between Morocco and Croatia.

The final between Argentina and France will be held on Sunday at Lusail Stadium, kicking off at 6pm.