Moroccan Star Mazraoui Responds to National Team Exclusion Amid Coach Dispute

10 November 2021 – byGinette · 1 min read

Moroccan international Noussair Mazraoui is having a hard time digesting his dismissal from the Moroccan national football team. The Ajax Amsterdam player, like his teammate who plays at Chelsea, is no longer in the good graces of the national coach. After Hakim Ziyech’s statement on the situation, it is Mazraoui’s turn to break the silence to enlighten public opinion, the reasons that justify his absence for more than a year from the list of players called up for the matches of the Atlas Lions.

In his recent press conference, Vahid Halilhodzic had explained that he could not tolerate a player going against the interests of the team. He confided that he did not appreciate that Noussair Mazraoui refused to train or play an important match on the pretext of being unfit when the medical staff said otherwise.

On Tuesday, the player gave his version of the facts on the program "Bij Andy in de auto" of the Dutch journalist Andy van der Meijde. "Ajax had refused that I go to the national team, but Morocco insisted that I come. I joined the team three or four days after the start of the gathering," explains the 23-year-old player.

"When I arrived, the coach was upset. During training, it was very hot, the coach asked us to drink every 5 minutes. During one of the breaks I didn’t drink, because I was no longer thirsty. That’s when he came to ask me to drink again, which I politely refused, but he insisted nervously. To calm the situation, Saïss gave me a bottle of water, but I poured it on the ground. That’s how the problem started," the player confides.

Category: Sport

Keywords:

Atlas Lions Noussair Mazraoui Vahid Halilhodzic