Morocco’s U-17 Star Hamony Aims to Emulate World Cup Success in Indonesia

Mohamed Hamony is shining at the U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023. The young Moroccan midfielder and his teammates intend to go as far as possible in the tournament, like their elders who reached the semi-finals at the World Cup in Qatar. "The pressure is enormous, because we have no choice but to do our best if we want the supporters and the whole Moroccan football family to be proud and united behind us. It’s an honor, but also a heavy responsibility," he confided to Fifa.com on Monday, the eve of the round of 16 match against the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Surabaya.

And he continued: "They showed us the way. It’s up to us to surpass them and make history, to make the Moroccan people even prouder of their football. We arrived with a single goal: to finish top of our group. That’s what we did. We spared no effort and today we are reaping the fruits of our work." The Moroccan team won Tuesday against Iran on penalties (1-1, p.s.o. 4-1) in this highly anticipated round of 16 match.

The performance of Mohamed Hamony, named man of the match in Morocco’s first match against Panama in the U-17 tournament, does not surprise François Rodrigues, director of the Havre AC training center, the club where the young striker plays in the U-19 category. "We are not surprised to see him at this level. He is a boy who has already been called up to train with the pros of Luka Elsner, he is one of the players with very high potential who are targeted with us," said the technician about the 17-year-old player.

The attacking midfielder "arrived late in France [at 12 years old] and we quickly detected in this boy a real potential," added Rodrigues, who considers Hamony a "very talented" and "intelligent" player. For now, the young player has not yet played a minute with his club’s first team. "I hope it will happen, if God wills it," said the Atlas Cub who wants to "become the best player in this World Cup".