Rachid Taoussi: Morocco coach

Morocco coach Rachid Taoussi believes his side are perfectly prepared to at least reach the knockout stage of the African Nations Cup.

Morocco open their campaign against Angola on Saturday (7pm) in Johanesburg looking to at least better the group-stage exit they suffered 12 months ago.

They will do so in a group that contains the hosts, South Africa, but otherwsise looks wide open with first-time participants Cape Verde completing the numbers.

"The motivation of this team is to go as far as possible," Taoussi told reporters.

Check out the African Cup of Nations 2013 Schedule.

"But we need to be realistic and not ignore the past. We need to be reasonable about our objectives.

"The first step for us is to go to the second road. That does not mean we don't have ambition. Look at Zambia last year - they were not the favourites but they won the tournament."

Morocco shared a goalless draw with the defending champions in one of their three warm-up games for the tournament and Taoussi believes they are ready to fire this time around.

"After those games, I can say we are 100 per cent ready mentally and physically," he said.

"The most important thing is to satisfy Morocco and our supporters and perform at the level expected."

Captain Nadir Lamyaghri said rectifying the mistakes of last year was at the forefront of the players' thoughts.

"I can say we are here for revenge. What happened in Gabon was a big disappointment for us and the country," he said.

"We thought we were ready but we had disappointments. We didn't play well. We want to erase memories of Gabon."

Morocco are slight favourites for the match and, at 74 in the FIFA world rankings, are just four places above Angola.

Angola will play at their fifth consecutive African tournament and bowed out at the group stage last year.