The 50-year-old tactician maintains the Atlas Lionesses’ focus is to reach the final as they take on the Super Falcons in the last four.
Morocco coach Reynald Pedros has admitted they will face a tall order when they come up against the “strongest team in Africa” Nigeria in the semi-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
The Atlas Lionesses will come up against the African champions at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the last four fixture, with the other semis clash pitting South Africa’s Banyana Banyana against Zambia’s Copper Queens.
Ahead of the Super Falcons clash, the 50-year-old Pedros, who played as a midfielder for the France national team, believes Nigeria will start as favourites.
“We are preparing this match like all the others, with a lot of seriousness and application. The main thing was to recover well after the quarter-final, recharge the batteries and not to put negative pressure on the players,” Pedros said in his pre-match press conference as quoted by CafOnline.
“Nigeria is the best team in Africa, that regularly participates in the World Cup. It is the country that has the most Wafcon titles. We know who we are dealing with,” added the tactician, who succeeded in guiding Olympique Lyonnais Feminin to retaining the Uefa Women’s Champions League for the third and fourth time.
Pedros discussed why his team must do their best if they are to overcome the Super Falcons.
“Nigeria is the strongest team in Africa and we know their strength. We need to do our best and we are prepared for the game,” Pedros continued.
“We know they are strong, they have been the strongest for several years and we are ready. I won’t reveal our plans for the game, but we know what we are facing, we know they are experience.”
Pedros further explained Morocco’s focus is to reach the final of the competition.
“We are focusing on winning, we are in the semi-final and we will see what will happen in the game,” Pedros said adding: “We have positive ideas and we will focus until we reach the final.”
On the injury situation of his players in camp, Pedros confirmed he has a full squad to pick from for the Super Falcons clash.
“We don’t have any injuries and all our players are ready. Tomorrow’s [Monday] game will be different and it’s up to us to stand up against our opponent,” added Pedros.
Morocco won all their Group A matches to top the table with nine points. They kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win against Burkina Faso, defeated Uganda 3-1 and then edged out Senegal 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
In the quarters, they defeated Botswana 2-1.
Meanwhile, Nigeria started their campaign in Group C with a 2-1 defeat against South Africa, but they recovered to beat Botswana 2-0 and then hammered Burundi 4-0 to storm the quarters, where they defeated Cameroon 1-0.
(goal.com)