Moroccan Soccer Star Chamakh Recalls National Team Challenges on Canal Plus Sport

Moroccan players playing in foreign championships are always faced with difficulties in responding to the call of the national team. FIFA has in the past repeatedly warned European clubs not to prevent their players from joining their national team, but this has not been enough to solve the problem, recalls girondins4ever.com. Marouane Chamakh, former striker of Girondins de Bordeaux, remembers being a victim of this situation.

"I was called up with the Moroccan under-21s but at the time Elie Baup did not release me to make this selection," Marouane Chamakh recalls. He remembers the emotion he had when he learned that his name was on an extended list for the Moroccan national team and that he had the opportunity to play for his country, as he had always dreamed of.

"This first call-up is everything, I will always remember it because I realized my dream. Even if the conditions were a bit difficult. Badou Zaki was a bit criticized at the time, I arrive like that, I’m barely 19 years old, I come from nowhere. I’m taking the place of someone who had been there for a long time. It wasn’t easy, but I’m achieving something concrete since I was very young because my heart’s choice was decided almost since 1998," he specified.