Real Madrid Pressures Brahim Diaz to Skip Africa Cup of Nations for Morocco

"Ibrahim Diaz wants to play for the Moroccan national team during the next Africa Cup of Nations. But he is under pressure from the Real Madrid management, who want to keep all their players in January," said Mohamed Makrouf, spokesman for the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) during a show on the Tunisian radio station IFM, adding that there is constant communication between the Spanish-Moroccan international and Walid Regragui, the coach of the Moroccan national team, who understands the player’s situation and the position of his club.

Since February, the coach of the Atlas Lions has been trying to convince the 24-year-old player to join his squad. "The coach of the Moroccan national team, Walid Regragui, will meet the AC Milan player Ibrahim Diaz to convince him to join the Moroccan team," tweeted beIN Sport, specifying that the Moroccan coach and the Moroccan midfielder had met in Milan on the sidelines of an AC Milan - Tottenham Hotspurs match. In September, Regragui flies to Spain for the same exercise.

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"Obviously, we are interested in Brahim. However, these cases involve many aspects and they are not easy to resolve. One of them is the Africa Cup in January, which does not help us," the national coach had said on August 31. While Diaz’s non-selection by Spain for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Georgia and Cyprus should in principle facilitate the player’s participation in the 2024 CAN with Morocco, the young Madrid striker and Regragui are facing obstacles from Real Madrid.