Days after he officially announced that he is retiring from his international career, Moroccan footballer Mehdi Benatia has spoken to beIN Sport about what he felt before taking the decision. He revealed that retiring was part of his plans before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). According to the former Atlas Lions' captain, some of his teammates could be blamed for the defeat. «Did we have the squad to win Afcon? I do not think so. Did we have the strength to beat Benin? Obviously! What is frustrating is to be defeated by a team that was not stronger than us». Mehdi Benatia «Unfortunately, I felt severe pain in my neck (…) I could not play for four days. So, I was very disappointed», he added, referring to the Atlas Lions' Afcon performance. ? Medhi Benatia s'est confié en exclusivité pour beIN SPORTS ! ?? Il tire un bilan de la CAN avec le Maroc : "Une compétition frustrante" ? "On n'avait pas l'effectif pour gagner" ? Et annonce sa retraite internationale pic.twitter.com/stlREqKn3e — beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) 12 octobre 2019 «You do not win a competition with good players but rather with great players (…) We need a center forward who scores 35 goals per season in a big European club and who would come to unlock the game. We missed that during my days», he regretted.
