Apart from the fallout with Morocco’s national football team, 2019 has been a year scintillating, flawless form for striker Abderrazak Hamdallah.
Rabat – Moroccan footballer Abderrazak Hamdallah has just been crowned the Best Arab Player of 2019, ending in great fashion a year in which he has been a commanding presence for his Al Nasr club and the most lethal goal threat of the Saudi football league.
This is a year when Hamdallah sealed his name in golden letters in the history of the Saudi league and his club Al Nasr. And his illustrious Globe Soccer award as Best Arab Player came just at the right time to reward a sensational season for the Moroccan player, one in which he has been both prolific and indispensable for his Saudi club.
While Hamdallah had already earned a golden spot in the history of his Saudi club for being its top scorer over the past seaons, the Moroccan hit an even more remarkable, stratospheric target this year by outshining the likes of Lionel Messi, Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe and every other big name in world football. Hamdallah scored 57 goals in 2019, compared to Messi’s 50 and Lewandowski’s 54, making the top scorer in the world.
But a stubborn, though little, dark stain in what could have been a flawless year for Hamdallah was his notable, and sometimes quite unfathomable, absence from Morocco’s national football team.
Hamdallah, who has not been on good terms with Morocco’s footballing authorities, has been conspicuous by his absence among Morocco’s Atlas Lions.
The player, who was due to join the Atlas Lions for this year’s CAN, walked out from the squad at the last minute. While early reports said he left because of a last-minute injury, the player would later fume at internal divisions in the Moroccan squad, describing what he saw as a toxic environment for players with no established friendships in the group.
This notable fallout with the management of the Atlas Lions has resulted his prematurely announcing his international retirement.
