World Cup 2022: Welsh pride at Morocco's achievements in Qatar

Morocco's historic run to the World Cup semi-finals has stunned football fans over the past few weeks.

They became the first African side to reach the last four of the tournament after they beat Portugal 1-0 and have also beaten Belgium and Spain.

But for Crystal Palace assistant manager Osian Roberts, the North African nation's success in Qatar has come as no surprise.

The Welshman spent two years as Morocco's technical director before departing in the summer of 2021 and subsequently joining Patrick Vieira at Selhurst Park.

"I'm immensely proud because I know all the players and the staff that are working behind the scenes and have been working hard for a long time and dreaming of something like this," Roberts told BBC Sport Wales.

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"We were knocked out of the African Cup of Nations last January by Egypt in the quarter-finals, so it felt as if this was a team that was underperforming and not performing in the big games.

"It looks with [Walid] Regragui coming in [as head coach], he's unleashed some of that fear and allowed them to express themselves, because it's a group that's so talented with so many individual talents.

"I had Regragui as a student on my CAF pro licence in Morocco so I know him quite well. He's renowned as a very good organiser defensively of teams and you can see that.

"He's able to put teams together quickly and he's certainly done that with this group.

"They're very well organised, very well structured and very well disciplined but of course then the talent in the group is quite immense really, even when you look at the back six.

"They've come together at the right time just ahead of the tournament and they've gone from strength to strength."

Roberts said Morocco's World Cup exploits have reminded him of Wales reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016, when he was a member of Chris Coleman's coaching team.

Another man who followed the same path from Wales to North Africa is Neil Ward.

Ward spent 20 years with the Football Association of Wales Trust, the body responsible for developing football in the country.

He has been director of football operations with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation since 2020.

"Football is everywhere here in Morocco," Ward told BBC Radio Wales Sport.

"Whether you're walking down the street, looking across some wasteland or passing by a beach, we have a lot of what they called proximity pitches in all the neighbourhoods.

"You see football everywhere and everyone playing - children, young people and families together, boys and girls.

"Football means so much and is very much part of the identity of the Moroccans and you can just see that by the jubilant scenes.

"I live in Rabat in the capital and after each game there's a victory parade around the city - flares, people hanging off bonnets and roofs of cars - and it's a sight to behold.

"Even the King was out in the parade and joining in and it was fantastic to see. Everyone just enjoying the excitement of the occasion."

Ward was FAW Trust chief executive between 2007 and 2020, a period in which Welsh football saw a significant changes both on and off the pitch.

The FAW Trust's acclaimed coach education programme attracted high-profile figures such as Vieira, Thierry Henry and Roberto Martinez.

Ward says the objectives in his current role are the same as they were in Wales, but on a much bigger scale.

"The work is very similar in what we are trying to achieve but obviously the context for me is very different," Ward said.

"It has been restricted by Covid and the first 18 months or so I was here was really challenging both personally and professionally, working through disruption.

"But since then we've been starting to put the structure in place.

"It's a huge country with a population of 40 million and the distance between Tangier in the north and Dakhla in the Western Sahara is 2000km.

"So the scale of it is challenging and I guess you're also working through some of the cultural and language challenges.

"But the work is very similar and we're trying to ensure more people have the opportunity to play the game and make sure it's organised and well coached.

"We've got a huge programme of coach education trying to build on the standards that were achieved in Wales and work very closely with the clubs to make sure that practice is ongoing."

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