Moroccan winger Nordin Amrabat has defended his team's Africa Cup of Nations showing against Cape Verde and insists he remains confident they will qualify for the quarter-finals.
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The Atlas Lions need to beat South Africa on Sunday to ensure they are one of the two Group A sides who head into the next round. However, while there is a must-win encounter on the horizon, questions are still being asked about their 1-1 draw with the Blue Sharks.
Coach Rachid Taoussi conceded after the match on Wednesday that his men may have underestimated the island nation, but this is not a view that Amrabat shares.
"No, not at all," he responded adamantly when asked if they had been caught off guard.
"We had seen the videos, we had analyzed their good points and their weakness but we didn't start aggressive or really concentrated and I don't like to talk bad about the referees but this referee, he thought we were playing indoor football or something, he blew the whistle for every touch and that was too much."
Looking ahead to Sunday's match, the Galatasaray man reiterated the fact the equation for Morocco is a simple one - even if the task itself will be anything but easy.
"Everything is in our own hands, if we win the game against South Africa we are in the next round," he said.
"We will also be number one in the pool. It is a final and we have to take the three points."
The showdown will take place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the same venue where both teams played earlier in the week, and the match is already sold out.
The Bafana Bafana players waxed lyrical about the impact that the loud, partisan crowd had during their win over Angola, but Amrabat is not concerned about doing battle in such an arena.
"We have experienced players, to play in front of 50,000, 60,000 people is not new to us," he explained.
"The South African fans are good people, they are not negative and they will do everything to support their team and we know we will be playing in a good atmosphere."
Julia Harris in Durban
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