FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts, July 9 (Reuters) - A disappointed Morocco said they had hoped to progress past the World Cup quarter-finals, but had to accept they lost to a better team as France eliminated them 2-0 in Thursday's tie.
Coach Mohamed Ouahbi said his side had still left a good image despite a laboured performance as they lost to France for a second successive tournament.
"I told my players to keep their heads high because we gave our all, we gave our best, but, of course, we need to take stock
of the situation, to progress, it's essential," Ouahbi told reporters.
"We cannot just say that we're happy and proud of our performance. We need to move forward, and in order to do so, we have to be objective and to do some self-criticism, to assess the situation."
Morocco played second fiddle to France almost from kickoff of the last-eight clash and hardly troubled the French goal.
"We are disappointed but the first half was very difficult, the French were very good with a ball. They had a lot of possession, they caused a lot of problems on the flanks with their players, and also in the centre," Ouahbi said.
"When we had the ball, our transitions were not so great, so we needed to run a bit more, and they ended up being in a comfort zone.
"We have to recognise that they're a great team. They have excellent players and had better goal-scoring opportunities. We lacked ideas and freshness, to do more when we had possession. We have to accept this defeat.
"It is hard to talk so soon after the match, but it's also difficult to talk about regrets when we got to the quarter-final."
Morocco were semi-finalists four years ago in Qatar when France also beat them.
"With regards to the match plan, we know that we can be on par, but we need to work even harder. We feel that we are able to do so. It is clear that today, France was stronger, but we are able to compete and to progress even further, and maybe to eliminate them four years down the line," Ouahbi added.
Morocco will co-host the next World Cup with Spain and Portugal in 2030.
The coach refused to be drawn on whether he felt France would go on and win the World Cup but continued his compliments.
"They want to go all the way to the final and win the trophy, and they have all the qualities. Now... they have to keep going in the next match... they'll have either Spain or Belgium to play in the semi-finals. I hope it'll be Belgium," said Ouahbi, born in Brussels to Moroccan parents.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Atlanta; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
