Morocco manager Herve Renard was glad and defiant with his group’s show in spite of losing to Portugal by a lone goal on Wednesday. The European champions led the pack in the fourth minute when Cristiano Ronaldo’s header made him Europe’s top international scorer with 85 goals. Though Morocco lost 1-0 to Portugal which pushed them close to the World Cup exit door, Renard has insisted that the nation could be proud of their team but they had failed to take their chances. “I’m very proud of the performance and I am very proud of my players, I’m very proud of this country,” said Renard, 49, who won the African Cup of Nations with Zambia and Ivory Coast.
“We deserved to win. We had five or six chances in the second half. What I am sure of at this moment is that the entire Moroccan people are proud of this team.
“Of course it’s easier to play with a player who has one chance and he puts it away. But we are in Morocco. We have quality players. Despite the ups and downs of the game, we should have been more effective.
“Because, like in the first game, we had plenty of chances. I won’t blame anyone. That’s football. It’s always those who know how to be present in the box, the most gifted players, who make the difference. We took a lot of risks and we didn’t get our reward.” The North African team will face Spain in their last Group Match on Monday.