New Jersey, June 14 (IANS) Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi said his side had laid down an early World Cup marker after a 1-1 draw with Brazil on Saturday, declaring his team was capable of more.

Morocco led through Ismael Saibari’s early goal and created several problems for the five-time world champion before settling for a point in its Group C opener.

“We won’t settle for this. I can promise you this is not the end,” Ouahbi told a post-match news conference in New Jersey, as quoted by Xinhua. “The competition is long and you’ll have a lot of fun watching us.”

Ouahbi said his team was determined to improve on its showing in Qatar four years ago, when it became the first African side to reach the World Cup’s last four.

“I want to go beyond the semifinals, but it was a good match. We got a point. We hoped to have more, but one isn’t a bad result and we hope to improve.”

Morocco controlled the midfield for long stretches of the opening half as Brazil struggled to retain possession in the oppressive heat.

Ouahbi said his players displayed the qualities he has sought to instill since replacing Walid Regragui in March.

“The message to our fans is that I know they are very proud of us,” he said. “Today we showed we’re ambitious. We drew, but we showed we wanted to win. We showed that we have a strong personality and we’ll continue to do this.”

Ouahbi also praised 18-year-old Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, whose request to represent Morocco was approved by FIFA last month.

Capped at the youth level by France, where he was born, Bouaddi was making only his fourth appearance for Morocco but played a key role in neutralising the influence of Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta.

“We already knew what he was capable of,” Ouahbi said. “This is why we had many talks with him to choose Morocco. He played well. Everyone is excited about him, but other midfielders were great as well.”

“Maybe because it was his first competitive match at the international level. But in terms of experience, he has much more than others. He has experience in the Champions League.”

Morocco next faces Scotland in Boston on June 19 before meeting Haiti in Atlanta on June 24.

–IANS

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