Morocco's coach Rachid Taoussi celebrates the goal by Youssef El Arabi (not in the picture) against Cape Verde during their group A match of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2013) soccer tournament in Durban, January 23, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)
After a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde in the second round of the African Cup of Nations group stage on Wednesday, Morocco coach Rachid Taoussi declared that his team would defeat tournament hosts South Africa and book a place in the quarterfinals.
"Morocco players admired their opponents [Cape Verde]'s performance throughout the game," Taoussi said at a post-game presser.
"Our team suffered from Adil Hermach's absence, in addition to individual mistakes by players that led to the draw," he added. "We dominated the match carefully so as not to give them a second goal."
"In football anything can happen; we still have a game against South Africa and we can qualify after that," Taoussi said.
The 53-year-old tactician went on to ask Moroccan fans to be patient with his players and wait until the end of the tournament before judging their performance.
"I know Morocco fans were angered by the players' performance in the first half, but in the second they saw the team's real capabilities," Taoussi concluded.
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