Achraf warned Spain: "They should fear us"

Achraf Hakimi spoke to the newspaper 'Marca' ahead of the World Cup round of 16 tie between Morocco and Spain. And the full-back's message was very clear: it is his team that comes top of the group, so he believes that they deserve respect and even that 'La Roja' should fear them.

"We've finished top of the group and I think we deserve a bit of respect. I think Spain know that and they have to be scared of us, to be honest, and why not spring a surprise again," he said, referring to the draw between the two sides at Russia 2018.

"We know what Spain are like, a team you have to respect a lot, but the coach has given us a winning mentality and it doesn't matter who comes next, we have to play our game, the way we are playing. We've drawn against Croatia and beaten Belgium and Canada, who are great teams, so why not the next team?

Achraf knows that the favourites' tag, in any case, goes to 'La Roja': "They always are, since the World Cup started, they are in the top 5". However, he stressed the morale of his team: "We're full of confidence, we're going to try to play our game, our game, and try to beat them".