‘It’s like it or not’

Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 23:18• Last update: 23:27

The chance is very small that Noussair Mazraoui will return to the national team of Morocco under Vahid Halilhodzic, he told Tuesday evening. ESPN. The defender, together with Hakim Ziyech, is at odds with the current national coach and has been ignored for months. Mazraoui decided at an earlier stage to link his international career to Morocco and for that reason can no longer play for the Dutch national team. Ziyech expressed his frustration at the beginning of September with a message on Instagram.

“It is a difficult issue”, Mazraoui acknowledges in conversation with Jan Joost van Gangelen. “I don’t think you can go through one door with that man at all and as long as he is there you have a big problem,” says the ESPN presenter. “Yes, it’s that simple,” said Mazraoui. “I can make it more difficult than it is, but you say it very well. The national coach would rather not have us. I am not a difficult person in that. It is like it or not.”

Mazraoui cannot deny that he regrets the situation. “You want to play for your country, you have chosen that,” said the right back of Ajax. “But if a coach doesn’t want me to, I can jump high and low… If the national coach is willing to talk, why shouldn’t I be open to it? I have no contact with Hakim about it. country and the supporters there. I have not received clarity about why the choice has been made. It is a waste of energy.”

Ziyech previously hit back via Instagram after Halilhodzic spoke harshly about him. “Next time you talk, speak the truth!” Ziyech wrote on his Instagram Stories in early September, followed by a clown emoji. It was a clear message to the Morocco national coach, who accused Ziyech of a lack of effort. “Ziyech showed no discipline during the last two games,” said Halilhodzic, who announced at the end of August that the attacking midfielder, like Mazraoui, was not part of the Moroccan squad for the World Cup qualifier against Sudan.