Noussair Mazraoui returned to the selection of the Moroccan national team on Wednesday. The brand new acquisition of Bayern Munich settled his argument with national coach Vahid Halilhodzic two weeks ago. Hakim Ziyech is again not in the group.
Mazraoui played his last of twelve international matches for Morocco at the end of 2020. He then came into conflict with Halilhodzic, who accused him of not fully committed to the team. The 24-year-old right back was therefore not called up for a long time.
A month ago, Halilhodzic emphasized that Mazraoui would not return to the Moroccan team under his rule. “The end of the story is for players who refuse to train, refuse to play and feign injuries. The national team is something sacred, which does not belong to the players, but to the entire people,” the 69-year-old Bosnian told Croatian newspaper. Nova TV†
Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa has been trying to find a solution to the conflict in recent months. This led to Halilhodzic meeting Mazraoui two weeks ago in a hotel in Amsterdam. Both men posed with a Moroccan flag (see the tweet below).
Mazraoui is now one of ten defenders called up by Halilhodzic for the upcoming international matches. Morocco plays an exhibition game with the United States (June 2) and qualifiers for the Africa Cup against South Africa (June 9) and Liberia (June 13).
AZ striker Zakaria Aboukhlal and midfielder Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina) are also in the selection. Olympique Marseille striker Amine Harit, who also had a fight with Halilhodzic, will return to the group after a year and a half, just like Mazraoui.
Return Ziyech seems far away
After the reconciliation between Halilhodzic and Mazraoui, there was also much speculation about a possible return of Ziyech, but the Chelsea attacker is not on the list of 27 names.
The 29-year-old Ziyech played his last international match on June 12 last year. Halilhodzic also accused the former Ajax player of bad behaviour. Ziyech himself blamed the quarrel with the national coach and announced his retirement as an international in March.
Morocco has qualified for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year. The team will compete in the group stage against Croatia, Belgium and Canada.
