Bounou: I always say penalties involve a lot of luck; France were stronger than us in every aspect

After Morocco lost 0-2 to France and bowed out in the World Cup quarter-finals, Morocco goalkeeper Bono, who saved Mbappe's penalty during the match, gave an interview to Argentine media outlet DS.

Your current strategy is very eye-catching. When did your approach to penalties change? You seem to adopt a passive stance, right? It’s as if you lean toward one of the posts, and today it was clear you were leaning toward the left post, trying to influence the taker, right?

No. In the end, when we practise penalties with our teammates, I assess how I feel on the day. Then, based on that feeling, we try to take action. But I always say there is a big element of luck in penalties.

After meeting in the dressing room following the elimination, how is everyone feeling now? What did you discuss? What is your assessment of the performance?

Listen, we certainly cannot forget that we have just been through a difficult Africa Cup of Nations, with so much happening, and it was not easy mentally. But the team has rebuilt itself psychologically and is able to cope with this World Cup. I think today we lost to a very, very strong opponent, so we have to accept what I have just told you.

Yassine, how do you feel after such an intense match against the world runners-up? You saved a penalty and personally wrote your name into history, but unfortunately, the team's overall performance was not ideal.

Yes, the fact is that we came up against a team stronger than us, and that is the reality. Tactically, we were also unable to gain an advantage because they surpassed us in every area. So we have to accept it, go back, keep working hard, rebuild, and congratulate our opponents.

Where did things go wrong with the plan? In other words, in the four days after the match against Canada, which aspects of your preparations did not go according to plan?

Listen, this is not easy, because in every match we lose some important, key players. We knew that in today's match against France, we could not get dragged into an end-to-end battle, because they are better, physically better. So our idea was to keep possession, to defend through possession, until we could break through the final line and create chances. But we were unable to do that, because today was not our day, technically or mentally. At the World Cup, unfortunately, these mistakes are not forgiven, all the more so against France.