Moroccan Star Belhanda Vows to Boycott National Team Under Halilhodžić

"Even if he (Vahid Halilhodžić, ed.) calls me back, I won’t go. As long as he is the coach, it’s dead. There was a break, he didn’t respect me even though my club performances were good," said Younes Belhanda in a lengthy interview with SoFoot. "In addition, I have been with the national team for twelve years, I have been there from the beginning. I am not a recycled guy who, for example, first chooses Spain, then Morocco. I could have chosen France and I didn’t do it out of love for this country. I am a real person, I have made the worst trips. When it was necessary to go to the Central African Republic or Gambia, I was there," added the Moroccan international.

The former No. 10 of the Atlas Lions recounts how the dispute that opposes him to the coach of the Moroccan team was born: "When he called me up at the beginning (in 2019, ed.), I had back pain and I had an MRI which confirmed my injury. We discussed it from his arrival, he asked me to heal well, and it went well. Later, I learn that a physiotherapist who had been with the Moroccan national team for twenty years has been relegated to the youth teams because, supposedly, he would be too close to the players and it would be necessary to be careful about it".

And to continue: "My problem is that I always want to be the justice seeker for others, while no one does it for me. So I went to see Vahid to tell him that it was not correct to dismiss the physiotherapist in this way, he has been with the national team for 20 years. I did nothing wrong, I am legitimate to speak, especially since I did it with respect. He told me that his decision was made and that he was going to replace him. For me, it is this position that cost me my place. He must have said to himself: ’Belhanda has too much character, he’s going to give me a hard time’".