In a statement after the Morocco-Portugal match (0-1), El Capitano Medhi Benatia criticized the attitude of "some close people" who "turned their backs" to the Atlas Lions after the defeat against Iran , without indicating by name the author of the acts in question.
According to Al Ahdath Al Maghribia on June 22, Benatia's remarks were aimed at Hervé Renard's assistant, Mustapha Hadji, who allegedly criticized the players' attitude after the defeat against Iran, asking them to focus on next games and stop expressing themselves on social networks.
Hadji also asked players, whom he called "spoiled children", to be combative to meet the expectations of millions of Moroccans waiting for a positive result.
Words that annoyed some players, including Medhi Benatia, who told Qatar's beIN Sport channel his annoyance with Hadji's comments. In addition, El Capitano paid tribute to the thousands of Moroccan fans who made the trip to Russia, especially those who attended the Morocco-Portugal meeting at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.
Benatia also criticized the refereeing, especially for the action of Portuguese defender Pepe on striker Khalid Boutaib, who was shaken to allow Cristiano Ronaldo to score with a diving header.
Finally, the Lions captain paid tribute to the young generation of players that Morocco has to face the next international competitions. As for his future with the national team, Benatia postponed any statement on this subject in the post-game against Spain on 25 June.
