Regragui looks to give back to Morocco

After springing the latest World Cup upset in a tournament which has had its fair share, Morocco will look to extend their fairytale run under the tutelage of Walid Regragui, who himself broke new ground by becoming the first ever African coach to take a team into the World Cup quarterfinals when his side beat Spain on penalties in the last 16.

Regragui was appointed before the tournament with Moroccan football in turmoil after previous coach Vahid Halilhodzic was sacked over "differences of opinion" with the country's football federation.

But in seven matches since then, the Atlas Lions have been unbeaten, conceding only once -- an own goal in their final group game against already-eliminated Canada.

In just five months since leaving Wydad Casablanca, Regragui has become an international coach for the first time and made his home nation the first ever North African or Arab country to reach the last eight of the World Cup.

One more win against Portugal on Saturday would make Morocco the first African team to reach the semifinals -- surpassing the 1990 Cameroon side, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana's 2010 vintage.

"If you can do it, you can, if not, not," the 47-year-old said of breaking new ground for an African or Arab coach.

"It has nothing to do with being Arab or not. I fought for it. Maybe when I'm old, I'll be proud of it, but for the moment, I am mainly proud for my country.

Morocco refused to be hypnotised by their opponents' extraordinary 1,019 passes and denied the Spaniards a goal in two hours of energy-sapping action as they secured a 0-0 draw before edging into the last eight on penalties.

"We had agreed not to take possession [against Spain], not out of fear," he said.

"Nobody had managed to steal the ball from them, so I accepted not having the ball, I'm not a magician. We worked for four days on this gameplan."

Regragui would likely have not even been at the tournament if much-travelled previous boss Halilhodzic had not sidelined star players Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui over disciplinary issues.

Regragui was born in France and spent the majority of his playing career there, although he did win 45 caps for Morocco.

"I passed my diplomas in France, but it is my country of origin which gave me a chance," Regragui said.

"I had to give back to the federation what they gave me, the confidence... to be able to grow in Morocco as a coach."