Morocco, the underdog that can bite - Regragui

The Atlas Lions, one of the few unbeaten teams in this tournament so far will face a wounded La Roja side, that was shocked by Japan in the last group game and the 2-1 loss meant that they finished second in Group E and face Group F winners in Morocco.

The Atlas Lions head coach Walid Regragui says he knows that Spain are favourites coming to this game but also reminds that an underdog can still bite.

"It's going to be a very difficult game against the best teams in the world, in terms of football with lots of ambition. I think we are amongst the top favourites for the final victory,” Regragui said.

“We have however our own qualities. We are well prepared and we've had an extra day of recuperation. In order to create surprise because honestly if we can knockout Spain it will be a big surprise for us and for our country,"

Morocco had an even tougher game against Canada which they won. Regragui, an African Champion League-winning coach with Wydad Casablanca who beat Pitso Mosimane’s then-Al Ahly side in June, says the game prepared them for tougher conditions.

"I loved our second half against Canada, that allowed us to judge the group the best. When you are in difficulty and you have to run then you really see that you have a team. That's what we were able to show in the second half,” he added.

“Now we are capable of giving them the same mental and athletic perfomance in 90 minutes because that's what awaits us with the Spanish. We hope and we are ready to give the same kind of performance,"

Morocco last reached this stage of the tournament in Mexico 1986 where they lost to the runners-up Germany 1-0. 36 years ago the Atlas Lions were the first African team to reach the knockout stage after topping their group. Regragui, a former international defender with 45 caps, knows all about the expectations back home.

"I'll tell the players to enjoy themselves. As millions in Morocco will be watching, there's a whole population behind them. There's an extra ordinary enthusiasm in Morocco because of that. We can't have any regrets. We'll play our football. We'll give it our all,” he explained.

“My job is to balance emotions in this type of match. You can't overdo it but also not underplay the fact that they can go down in history and achieve something big,"

Spain is one of the deadliest teams in attack in this tournament, their numbers also point to that, averaging 853 completed passes in a game, at least five shots on target every game, and 15 free-kicks per match as well.

It’s understandable why Regragui wants to restrict their use of the coach.

"There are people who want the ball and others who don't. There are some who know what to do with it, other don't know what to do with it. We hope this evening, Spain doesn't know what to do with the ball. That's kind of our plan," he concluded.