Scotland-Morocco - H. Michel: "The players proved that they had their place in this World Cup and that they could have gone further"

24.06.98 00h21 CET

 

"It's a great deception. But above all I want to thank the players from the bottom of my heart. Thank them for their performance. They proved that they had their place in this World Cup and that they could have gone further. This evening we didn't qualify because we drew with NORWAY (2-2) at MONTPELLIER. I can't do anything about BRAZIL's defeat by NORWAY. I know there was a one in a hundred chance that NORWAY would win and this is what happened. I heard rumours about the match and apparently their penalty awarded was a little generous. From a technical point of view, MOROCCO proved that they could play against the best teams. We've improved in our game organisation, both technically and on coverage of the field. All has been spoilt by the errors against NORWAY. Our players have great potential and a lot of talent, and they deserved to get qualified. I congratulate them and thank them but I'm very sad for them. This evening we saw a Scottish team much weaker than MOROCCO; we were inspired. That's the name of the game: Against BRAZIL the roles were reversed and we were the weaker team and we lost 3-0."