France, Jan. 14 -- Regragui, a former Morocco international, says the timing of the tournament as well as playing surfaces in the slickly refurbished stadiums around the land have led to more flowing football and permitted the top teams to flourish.

"At thelast Cup of Nations, when we played against the Democratic Republic of Congo, we played at 1.30 in the afternoon insomething like 40-degrees heat with 80 percent humidity. In those kind of conditions, it's definitely more difficult to win a match.

"There were criteria that made it difficult for the teams so that they couldn't play their best football," he added.

Diaz and Saibari take Morocco past Cameroon into the semis at Cup of Nations

"But once theconditions were created for the ...