Moroccan Midfielder Fajr Vows to Fight for World Cup Spot Despite National Team Snub

Fayçal Fajr is not one of the 31 players whose names were revealed on September 12 by the new coach of the Atlas Lions, Walid Regragui. For the midfielder of Al Wehda (Saudi Arabia), it was a shock. "I was surprised that my name was not on the Morocco list. It’s hard to accept, the coach contacted me to explain his choice. I will continue to work to return to the Moroccan national team. The door is always open, as Regragui told me," Fajr explained in a statement to the Saudi channel Al-Arabiya.

The Al Wehda player then spoke about the dispute that opposed him to Abderrazak Hamdallah well before the 2019 CAN. For him, everything is fine between them. They took the time to settle their dispute. "There is no problem between Hamdallah and me. The crisis ended in time, the media try to exaggerate things," regretted Fajr.

He is full of praise for his teammate and insists that he is not responsible for his absence from the national team for the past few years. "Hamdallah is a great player. I don’t think I’m behind his absence from the national team. I just carried out the instructions of coach Hervé Renard at the time, who entrusted me with the penalties."

Finally, the Moroccan international admitted that it was Hamdallah, Ahmadi and Renard who advised him to join Saudi Arabia. "I didn’t accept the offer because of the money. I wanted to have a new experience," concluded the 34-year-old player.