Once booed for choosing Belgium, former Raja player understands why young stars now choose Morocco
He scored twice against Morocco but was booed throughout the match. Mo Messoudi has not forgotten the reception given to Belgian-Moroccan players who chose Belgium. Twenty years later, the former Raja Casablanca midfielder fully understands why the new generation prefers the Atlas Lions.
He had scored twice, but the Moroccan fans in the stands had forgiven him nothing. During a friendly between the Belgian and Moroccan under-21 teams, which ended in a spectacular 4-4 draw in Brussels, Mo Messoudi was booed alongside Marouane Fellaini and Ibrahim Maaroufi. Their offense? Choosing to represent Belgium rather than their parents’ country.
The incident grew so much that Moroccan television went to his mother’s home to ask why her son did not play for Morocco. “He was never called up; he was developed here,” she replied.
Now 42, the former Belgium under-21 international recounts the episode in an interview with the daily Het Nieuwsblad. Now a coach at Beerschot, he is watching with interest as young players developed in Belgium take the opposite path, including Chemsdine Talbi and Rayane Bounida.
“It’s not a choice against Belgium”
“It’s not a choice against Belgium,” Messoudi stresses. The players in question, he says, remain grateful to the country where they were developed. But they also know that the reception from the Moroccan public can be on a completely different scale.
He experienced it himself in 2015, when he joined Raja Casablanca. From his first training sessions, he discovered a level of popularity he had underestimated. Strangers recognized him in the street and even at passport control at the airport.
The fervor sometimes has a downside. After some defeats, he says, the players had to wait for hours in the dressing rooms until disgruntled supporters left the stadium. One evening, after an elimination from the Throne Cup, their bus was even targeted near a tollbooth.
On Bladi.net : Football: FIFA officially validates Rayane Bounida’s choice for Morocco
The experience also opened his eyes to his parents’ country. Used to family holidays between Tangier and Tétouan, he discovered Casablanca, Rabat and other regions. His northern Moroccan Arabic sometimes led to amusing situations: “I spoke like a West Flemish person in Antwerp,” he jokes.
His view of Moroccan football has also changed. Facilities have been modernized, ambitions have grown, and players developed abroad now find their feet more easily. Dutch and English are also more widely spoken within the national teams’ environment.
For Messoudi, these changes help explain why players such as Rayane Bounida chose Morocco. “The step for boys from the diaspora has become smaller,” he observes. And he makes no secret of his admiration for the Kingdom, which he describes as “a fantastic country.”
