Regragui speaks out on the El Hilali possibility

Walid Regragui, the coach of the Morocco team, raised the possibility of calling up the young Spanish-Moroccan Omar El Hilali with the Atlas Lions.

Great architect of the rise of Espanyol Barcelona in the Spanish elite and one of the satisfactions of the Pericos, 18th out of 20 teams in Liga this season, Omar El Hilali sees his rating continually rise in Morocco. Born in Hospitalet de Llobregat to parents of Moroccan origin, the 21-year-old right back, holder of dual nationality hispano-Moroccan, successively made his classes with the Moroccan U17, U20 and U23 but never had a chance in the A team. He was also not selected for the Paris Olympics last July-August.

“Let him continue to work”

However, the door to the Atlas Lions is not closed to him. All that remains is to continue his momentum to earn his place in a high-quality squad. This is what coach Walid Regragui implied, visiting a press conference on Tuesday.

“He (El Hilali) plays in a position where we already have two of the best full-backs in the world, Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui. Let him continue to work, and the day we need him, we will summon him.”said the technician.

As a reminder, El Hilali won the CAN U23 with the Lion Cubs of the Atlas last year, making two appearances. He played the entirety of the third group match against Congo (0-1 victory), then came on for the last 62 minutes of the final won against Egypt (2-1 ap.).