Morocco coach Ouahbi proving doubters wrong

When Mohamed Ouahbi was a student a professor told him he lacked the necessary skills to become a physical education teacher.

In coaching Morocco to the World Cup quarter-finals with an attractive brand of football, Ouahbi has comprehensively proved him wrong.

The 49-year-old Belgium-born coach is yet to lose a match at the tournament and Morocco have an enticing quarter-final date with two-time World Cup winners France in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Thursday.

"I remember (the professor) very well my first year of studying," Ouahbi told French football magazine Onze Mondial this month.

"A professor told me that in his opinion I was not made for teaching, to giving lessons, or communicating."

Ouahbi has made him eat humble pie ever since.

What he failed to achieve on the pitch as a player he has delivered as a coach, although the bulk of his experience has been in developing young talent.

Until he was named Morocco coach just three months before the World Cup to replace Walid Regragui, he had never coached senior players, apart from one season as assistant coach at storied Belgian club Anderlecht.

He had earned his spurs in coaching under-age players, spending 17 years at Anderlecht where Belgium World Cup stars Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku were among his proteges.

His years of labour with the youngsters paid off when he guided Morocco to the World Under-20 title last year. Morocco beat France on penalties in the semi-finals and overcame Argentina in the final.

Obviously the task on Thursday in facing a vibrant France side led by superstar Kylian Mbappe is a tougher challenge but Ouahbi has gained the confidence of former international players.

"There were question marks over his ability to coach a side full of stars, but what we saw in the friendlies was promising," ex-Morocco international midfielder Abdelaziz Bennij told AFP.

"He arrived at a time when everyone was worried ... it was a huge gamble and he has succeeded."

- 'Brought added value' -

Ouahb i's background with the under-age players will have served him well in dealing with the prodigiously talented 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, a former France Under-21 star who pledged his allegiance to Morocco shortly before the World Cup.

He has also gained praise for adding elan to the team he took over from Regragui.

Ouahbi's predecessor's counter-attacking style, although hugely successful -- Morocco reached the 2022 World Cup semi-finals before losing to France and won the controversy-hit Africa Cup of Nations final this year -- had become increasingly unpopular.

His more crowd-pleasing style -- with new Bayern Munich signing Ismael Saibari to the fore -- was on show in the 1-1 draw with Brazil in the group stage and then the last 32 win on penalties over the Netherlands.

"He has imposed his style on two footballing giants, notably against the Netherlands," Moroccan great Aziz Bouderbala told AFP.

"He knew how to control the match and came up with an imaginative offensive strategy without losing the defensive solidity.

"Ouahbi has brought added value, and has not been content to just carry on in the same style as before."

It is not only former players who have been impressed but also those closer to home.

"My father is very proud of me," said Ouahbi, who has three children.

"My papa wears suits the whole time and in the Brussels neighbourhood where they live he is called 'Al Pacino'.

"He is always in a suit and tie but now when I give him my tracksuits he wears those instead!"

Ouahbi, though, is not one for soaking up the praise all for himself -- he prefers a more collegiate approach.

"I try always to include everyone in the project," he told Onze Mondiale.

"I never ever express myself in the first person: I always use 'one' or 'we'.

"The moment I speak in the first person I will put distance between myself and this collective logic.

"It is a staff above all else. Someone who thinks he will succeed alone will not do so… well neither for long nor in the correct manner."

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