Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 07:11

The pressure on Morocco national coach Vahid Halilhodzic is slowly but surely increasing due to his decision not to include Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui in his selection, Khalid Sinouh tells The Telegraph. The former goalkeeper – who played four international matches for Morocco – advises Halilhodzic to put his pride aside with a view to the World Cup. Morocco will play against Guinea-Bissau (Wednesday evening and October 9) and Guinea (October 12) next week.

Ziyech and Mazraoui were already missing from the selection for the international match against Sudan (2-0 win) last month. “If you talk, at least speak the truth,” Ziyech said on social media at the time, following Halilhodzic’s harsh statements. The national coach of Morocco recently went the extra mile by stating that due to ‘a lack of discipline’ at Mazraoui and Ziyech, he ‘had to draw a line’.

“Ziyech has never had any problems with his efforts during training or matches at his clubs. That speaks in his favour. And you never hear about Mazraoui at all. We knew in the Netherlands that he had eye complaints for a long time and was therefore out of circulation at Ajax. It is therefore a strange story that he would have refused for Morocco,” says Sinouh. Halilhodzic claimed that Mazraoui had lied about his fitness.

Sinouh signals that the pressure on Halilhodzic is increasing. “Not bad if you leave two of your best players at home, for reasons that many people don’t believe. That is asking for problems,” says the former goalkeeper of SC Heerenveen, RKC Waalwijk, AZ, PSV and FC Utrecht. He suspects that Halilhodzic thinks he can win the battle by making it to the World Cup. Morocco must survive a group with Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sudan to make it to the final round. “But he will also need Ziyech and Mazraoui at the World Cup. Left or right, he always ends up as the loser.”

“Halilhodzic has something in his head and is clinging to it convulsively. While I think he has to adapt to the characters and qualities of his players,” Sinouh continues. He cites that the previous national coach Hervé Renard entered into talks with Ziyech to improve the situation. “I don’t see Halilhodzic doing that. That will eventually cost him his head.” According to Sinouh, the president of the Moroccan Football Association has already asked whether Halihodzic wanted to leave. “But he refused. Probably not enough bids to get him out.”