Walid Regragui expressed that the prolonged wait before Morocco‘s penalty during injury time “disturbed” Brahim Díaz, ultimately leading to his panenka attempt being saved.
The hosts were awarded a disputed penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time after a VAR review determined that El Hadji Malick Diouf had fouled Díaz in the box. This incident sparked a confrontation between the teams and prompted Senegal players to leave the field in protest at the direction of their coach, Pape Thiaw, resulting in a 14-minute delay before they resumed play.
Ultimately, Díaz had to wait 17 minutes before taking his penalty, which he chipped directly into the hands of Édouard Mendy.
Thiaw’s team later secured victory in the final when Villarreal‘s Pape Gueye netted the winning goal in the fourth minute of extra time.
It was a disappointing conclusion to Díaz’s tournament, although he did earn the Golden Boot after scoring five goals.
“He had too much time to think before taking the penalty, which likely affected him,” Regragui commented.
“However, we cannot change what occurred. That was his choice in how to take the penalty. We must now focus on the future.”
“The way the match unfolded was shameful for African football,” he added.
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“When a coach instructs his players to leave the pitch and makes statements that were already discussed in pre-match press conferences [where Senegal accused Morocco of unsportsmanlike behavior], he must maintain composure, regardless of the outcome.”
“What Pape [Thiaw] did tonight does not reflect honor on Africa. As an African champion, he may say what he pleases, but they halted the match for over 10 minutes.”
“That doesn’t excuse Brahim’s execution of the penalty; he took it poorly, and we must accept that. Now we need to move forward and acknowledge that Brahim missed.”