Morocco head coach, Herve Renard, said he was proud of his charges despite their exit from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals on Sunday night.
The Lions of the Atlas were narrowly beaten by the Pharaohs of Egypt 1-0 in a quarter-final game at the Stade de Port-Gentil in the Gabonese city of Port-Gentil.
Accomplished tactician, Renard, believes that Egypt, who are the most successful nation in the AFCON history with seven titles, are back to their usual best.
“Egypt’s rivals should be careful, because Egypt is back,” Renard told reporters after the game.
“It was very difficult to perform in this poor pitch but Egypt dealt with it very well and played a good game.
“They have a good coach and they snatched a winner after a defensive error,” he continued.
“We played a good game and we did our best against a tough opponent. I’m proud despite the loss.”
Egypt are scheduled to lock horns with Burkina Faso in a semi-final clash at the Stade de l’Amitié in Gabon’s capital city Libreville on Wednesday night.
Egypt and Arsenal midfielder, Mohamed Elneny, will not recover from injury in time to face Burkina Faso in Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final.
The 24-year-old is still nursing a calf problem that kept him out Sunday’s 1-0 quarter-final win over Morocco.
“Elneny has a bad calf strain. We will send a medical report to his club,” said coach Hector Cuper.
“He will have tests and we hope that if we manage to reach the final he will be able to return.”
Egypt will face Burkina Faso in their semi-final in Libreville on Wednesday and they are likely to be without striker Marwan Mohsen for that game, too.
Mohsen came off in the first half against Morocco.
Cuper said: “Mohsen looks to have a serious problem with a knee but we will need to carry out more detailed tests.”
Egypt’s progress to the last four keeps them on course to win a record-extending eight Nations Cup title, and their first since 2010.
But they were perhaps fortunate to get past Morocco, who missed a host of good chances, and edged to victory with an 87th-minute winner from Abdel-Moneim.
“It was a very complicated match for both teams for 94 minutes. We both had chances but we were lucky to get the goal from a dead ball,” said Cuper.
Morocco’s elimination ended coach Herve Renard’s hopes of winning the title for a third time, with a third different nation – he won it in 2012 with Zambia and in 2015 with Ivory Coast.
“I am proud of all the players. One by one, honestly they were exceptional,” said Renard.
“We must not have regrets. We must just be proud of what we have done because we have come a long way.”
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