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Morocco will visit Gabon at Franceville before receiving the Lesotho has Oujda, Friday November 15 and Monday November 18. These meetings, which are part of the CAN 2026 qualifiers, also mark the end of the international windows for the year 2024.
In anticipation of these anecdotal meetings on an accounting level, but of crucial importance in preparation for CAN 2025, the national coach called 26 players on Thursday, November 7. In the meantime, two new players were called up to compensate for the withdrawals of Ilias Akhomach and Amir Richardson.
Before flying to Gabon, the national coach Walid Regragui held a press conference on Tuesday, November 12, in the amphitheater of the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé. The opportunity to explain his choices, which once again fueled the debates. Starting with the absence of Hakim Ziyech for the second rally in a row. “Hakim has played very little in recent weeks. He needs to get back to his best form before coming back,” underlined the coach.
The striker of the Turkish club Galatasaray argued seven games since the start of the season (281 minutes). He only started once. While in the past several players were called up without having more minutes of play in their legs, the coach’s choice was conditioned by the profusion of talent on the right of the Atlas Lions attack.
“The competition is greater in this position. So I have more of a choice not to call up players who lack playing time,” he continued. That said, it seems that in the mind of Walid Regragui, Hakim Ziyech is no longer an obvious solution. To replace Ilias Akhomach, seriously injured in the knee, he called Zakaria Aboukhlal.
The Toulouse club striker is in brilliant form, after being away from the field for several months following a cruciate ligament rupture. “Zakaria fully deserves his summons,” said Walid Regragui. The native of Rotterdam (Netherlands) registered four goals and provided two assists in his team’s last five games.
Fiorentina midfielder Amir Richardson also had to withdraw, along with Omar Sahraoui. “We took this decision as a precaution, because they were not fully fit to be in the field”, assured Mr. Regragui. But only Richardson was replaced by Reda Belahyane, the central midfielder of Hellas Verona.
Adam Masina in central defense
In about a year, the national team will enter the home stretch before hosting the biggest African football nations for CAN 2025. But that does not mean that the coach feels any particular pressure. “The pressure is always present, whatever the match. There is a duty to achieve results. We still have matches to achieve our objective in order to be ready for CAN 2025 at home,” he assured. However, the defensive sector still gives him so much torment.
Hence the return of Adam Masina, who relaunched his career at Torino (Italy). “Adam has changed position since he plays on the left axis in a three-man central defense. Our objective is to assess his abilities in a four-man defense. And why not, in the future, play in a three-defender system,” said the coach.
However, in this position, Adam Masina did not give complete satisfaction. 11th in the Italian championship, Torino FC has the 5th worst defense in Serie A, having conceded 18 goals in 12 matches. In short, the summons of Adam Masina raises as many questions as that of the four goalkeepers selected for this gathering.
“It’s not the first time I’ve called four doormen,” recalled Walid Regragui. “We have two great goalkeepers, Yassine Bounou and Munir El Kajoui, in a position where players often have a fairly long career. I think they have at least two or three years ahead of them.”
“We also called two other guards to assess them. This is a project for the future, but currently we have no problem in this sector,” he added. Finally, in response to a question concerning the binational players who have not yet had the chance to be called up, the coach highlighted the increasing competition within the EN.
“Our team has grown. We have a very good squad. We have been in the top 13 in the world for two years. So, dual nationals who wish to play for Morocco must be patient, because there is strong competition. And if a player thinks he will be better off with another country, there is no problem,” he concluded.
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