The situation of Hakim Ziyech with the national team of Morocco seems to be getting more and more hopeless. The midfielder annex attacker of Chelsea has been at odds with national coach Vahid Halilhodzic for some time, but now seems to have completely spoiled it with Fouzi Lekjaa. The president of the Moroccan Football Association has expressed his dissatisfaction with Ziyech’s attitude to a local radio station.
Ziyech’s name has come up frequently in recent weeks, when it became known that he was not called up for the Lions of the Atlas to participate in the Africa Cup. Ziyech and Halilhodzic have not been able to go through one door for some time. The trainer accuses Ziyech of a lack of discipline and so the country tournament will pass the Chelsea player’s nose, just like in 2017. At the time, he was ignored by then national coach Hervé Renard. “We then decided to give him time, to return with a new state of mind,” said Lekjaa.
However, the federation chairman sees that little has changed. “We expected Hakim to be a player who would take the national team by the hand and lead it to victories, not a player who waits to receive the ball without making any effort,” Lekjaa told the regional news agency. broadcaster. “I don’t want to go into details.” Halilhodzic accuses Ziyech, among other things, of being late, refusing to train and refusing to play. The last time the ex-Ajacied played for his native country was on June 12 in the friendly against Burkina Faso.
Last week, the 25-man selection of Morocco was announced for the Africa Cup. Unlike Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui, Souffian El Karouani (NEC) and Zakaria Aboukhlal (AZ) are part of the selection for the tournament in Cameroon. Halilhodzic also selected several well-known names, including Sofyan Amrabat, Yassine Bounou, Munir El Haddadi and Youssef En-Nesyri. The Africa Cup starts on 9 January, the final is on 6 February. Morocco will face Ghana, Gabon and the Comoros in the group stage.
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