The World Cup is over, and the next one will be in Morocco. The Atlas Lions’ federation president is pushing hard to make Casablanca the venue of the final game, while the Spaniards are sure that they will be the hosts. But that dilemma certainly won’t be solved anytime soon and AFCON qualifiers are the next big thing, so manager Mohamed Ouahbi announced his 29 players for the games with Gabon and Lesotho.
Even though Morocco has become Africa’s powerhouse and sixth-placed national team on FIFA’s list, there are two players who refused to play for the Atlas Lions, both due to different reasons.
The first one is former Manchester United loanee Sofyan Amrabat, who stated that he won’t play for Morocco under the current coach, but ruled out retirement from the national team.”This has been a very difficult decision, but I do not feel able to continue representing the national team under the current head coach. I am therefore making myself unavailable for selection while he remains in charge.
Out of respect for the national team and everyone involved, I prefer to keep the reasons behind this decision private. I want to be clear: I am not retiring from international football, and I am not closing the door on representing Morocco again” said the current Ajax player.
The other one is Eintracht Frankfurt’s striker Younes Ebnoutalib, who got a call from Jurgen Klopp at his own request, and will represent Germany, his country of birth. Coach Mohamed Ouahbi addressed both situations at the press conference.“There is no conflict between Amrabat and me or with the staff. No player is guaranteed a spot on the national team, regardless of their name or history – performance on the pitch is always the ultimate decider. Your past earns you respect, but not privilege. I understand his disappointment. As for Younes, we’ve been following him since last season; he was already shortlisted in March and June. We went to see him long before that, we had an honest conversation with him, without promising him anything. He has made his choice, and being with Morocco is non-negotiable. Good luck to him. It’s a closed case for our country. We are the sixth-ranked team in the world, and that’s not up for negotiation” he explained.