Morocco Coach Urges Players to Defy Club Bans for National Team Duty

Moroccan players playing in Europe are caught between the hammer of the national coach and the anvil of the ban imposed by their clubs. Vahid Halilhodzic has no intention of succumbing to the pressure of European clubs that refuse to release Moroccan internationals. According to the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, he spent the weekend contacting about twenty players among those summoned for the matches against Mauritania (March 26) and Burundi (March 30), to demand their presence at the training camp starting this Monday at the Mohammed VI Complex in Maâmoura.

For its part, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) has ensured the transportation of Moroccan internationals to the kingdom, even if the task is a bit more difficult for the countries to which Morocco has suspended air links, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the case of Stade Rennais central defender Nayef Aguerd, Milan full-back Achraf Hakimi and Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.

Vahid is therefore awaiting for the training camp the goalkeepers Yassine Bounou (Seville FC), Mounir El Kajoui (Hataysport), and Anas Zniti (Raja de Casablanca). As for the defenders, there are Soufiane Chakla (Getafe), Ghanem Saiss (Wolverhampton), Zouhair Feddal (Sporting Lisbon), and Nayef Aguerd (Stade Rennais). The side will be composed of Achraf Hakimi (Inter Milan), Issam Chebake (Yeni Malatyasport), Nabil Dirar (Club Brugge), Adam Massina (Watford).

At the midfield level, the coach has called up Soufiane Amrabat (Fiorentina), Yahya Jabrane (Wydad de Casablanca), Aymane (Frankfort), Oussama tannane (Vitesse Arnhem), Selim Amallah (Stadard Liège), and Adel Taarabet (Benfica).

Finally, the attack will be provided by Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea), Zakaria Boukhlal (Az Alkamaar), Soufiane Rahimi (Raja de Casablanca), Youssef El Arabi (Olympiakos), Youssef En-Nesyri (FC Seville), Ayoub El Kaabi (Wydad de Casablanca) and Munir El Haddadi (FC Seville).