Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel praised the performance of Moroccan international Hakim Ziyech against Tottenham (2-0) on Sunday, January 23, 2022 at Stamford Bridge, during the 23rd round of the Premier League.
Former England international turned coach, Gary Neville compares Chelsea’s attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech to Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez, after the Moroccan player’s performances in the match against Tottenham (2-0) on Sunday.
After an almost flawless first group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) with two wins and a draw, Morocco enters the second phase of the 33rd edition of the CAN Cameroon 2021 on Tuesday, January 25. The Atlas Lions take on Malawi to secure their ticket to the quarter-finals.
On Sunday at Stamford Bridge, it was an impressive Hakim Ziyech who revealed himself during the match that pitted Chelsea against Tottenham for the 23rd round of the English football championship. The final score was (2-0) for the Atlas Lion and his teammates.
Morocco will have to face Malawi without the national team midfielder Fayçal Fajr, the only positive case of Covid-19 within the Moroccan team.
The Atlas Lions will face the Democratic Republic of Congo for the third round of the Africa Zone qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A seemingly playable team, but caution must remain.
The absence of Moroccans Yassine Bounou, Youssef En-Nesyri and Munir El Haddadi, who are participating in the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, is seriously affecting their club, FC Seville, which drew (2-2) on Saturday against Celta.
After the draw for the qualified countries for the Africa play-offs for the World Cup, the coach of the Atlas Lions commented on the opponent (Democratic Republic of Congo) that Morocco inherited. Vahid Halilhodzic measures the task ahead because the match is likely to be difficult given the stakes.
The Botola is ranked 3rd best football championship in Africa in 2021 and 30th worldwide, thus gaining 3 places compared to the previous year.
Nine individuals, including two police officers serving at the provincial security district of Guelmim, were arrested by the national brigade of the judicial police (BNPJ) on January 20 and 21. They would be involved in a case of forgery, corruption, disclosure of professional secrecy and drug trafficking.
The Atlas Lions as well as all the teams qualified for the play-offs of the Africa zone for the 2022 World Cup, are now aware of the opponents to face in order to have their ticket for the next stage. The draw took place on Saturday in Douala, Cameroon.
Achraf Hakimi and Soufian Boufal are among the eleven players in the team of the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), unveiled by the African Football Confederation (CAF).