Moroccan Striker Hamdallah Blasts National Coach Regragui Over Playing Time

"I blame Regragui for only playing me for half a match after the 2022 World Cup in the match against Cape Verde, which remains a strong team. He had replaced me immediately after the end of the first half," Abderrazak Hamdallah confided in an interview with journalist Khaled Yassine on his YouTube channel. He cannot digest the little playing time granted to him by the coach of the Moroccan national team. He "summoned me to friendly matches and did not include me. [...] So how could we judge me, especially since I play an important role within the Saudi club of Al-Ittihad and that I score goals?", he wondered. He has trouble understanding the fate reserved for him within the national team. "All the top scorers and strikers of the clubs in the Saudi championship go to the national team, except Hamadallah. I only had a chance recently with the national team, but my best periods were with Badou Zaki," added the second all-time top scorer in the Saudi championship with over 130 goals.

The 33-year-old player returned to his first call-up under the current coach of the Atlas Lions. "When he had summoned me for the first time, he had told me: why do they say about you that you are a difficult player. I retorted: did you summon me to ask me this question," he recounted.
HamadAllah assured "not knowing why he has a reputation for being a difficult player". He had maintained good relations with the former coach of the Atlas Lions, Badou Zaki, whose departure he suffered from. The arrival of the French coach Hervé Renard rhymed with a big ordeal for the Moroccan striker. "After the surprise departure of Badou Zaki, I went through four years of famine with Hervé Renard who sidelined all the players from the Gulf championships," he recalled. He had nevertheless been called up to participate in the 2019 CAN. "I was only recalled to the national team for the 2019 CAN when all the national team players like Karim El Ahmadi, Mbarek Boussoufa and Noureddine Amrabat had come to the Saudi championship," he said, adding that he was the top scorer and the best player in the Saudi championship that year.

"On my arrival, I had found a group, most of whose players - I don’t say everyone - in which there was an atmosphere of nonchalance and I-don’t-care as if we didn’t have the Africa Cup in a few weeks," revealed the Moroccan international. But before an incident occurred with Fayçal Fajr during a friendly match against Gambia in preparation for the 2019 CAN. Fayçal had refused to let Hamdallah take a penalty. "I was on edge unfortunately. Maybe there was a ranking of players to take the penalties, but as for our group - the one of the players who were supposed to play the second half, there was no ranking". Hamadallah was motivated by the desire to regain the confidence of the public and to score on a penalty. "When I entered the field, I was overflowing with enthusiasm, especially with the warm welcome of the Moroccan public that I thank. So, I came in to score and regain confidence with the selection, because we were two weeks away from the CAN. When we had the penalty, I was the first player to take the ball. As a player who has practiced football for years, I can say that there is almost a rule that you have to let go when a player is going to take the ball to take a penalty, especially if it’s a striker," he continued.

An episode that the former top scorer of the Botola with the OCS did not appreciate at all. To show that he is not on the lookout for penalties, he also recounted: "During the Morocco Georgia match, I provoked a penalty and I asked Sofiane Boufal to take it, which he refused, and I accepted without any problem".