Rabat – Mehdi Benatia has picked his side in the raging controversy over Hakim Ziyech’s forced retirement from international duties.
For the former Juventus defender and former Moroccan national team captain, the Chelsea star is an undroppable asset for Morocco’s Atlas Lions and is as important to Morocco’s team as Lionel Messi to Argentina’s.
In an Instagram live aired yesterday, Bentaia shared his stand on Ziyech’s decision to indefinitely end his international career.
“I have played shoulder to shoulder with Ziyech in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament as well as qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. During that time, there was never a dispute within the team involving Ziyech,” Benatia said.
“When you first encounter Ziyech, you may think that he is not the talkative type. However, he’s always there, punctual. Of course, he’s a world-grade skilled football player.”
Read also: Sorry Ziyech, Mazraoui: Halilhodzic Was Never the Coach Morocco Needs
Benatia further shared many Moroccan fans’ stance that, with his creativity and world-class quality, Ziyech is an asset that Morocco’s team cannot afford to lose as it hopes to feature in the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
“I believe the real question is, what can the Moroccan national football team do without Ziyech!” the former Juventus defender said, adding pointedly: “Ziyech represents to Morocco what Leonel Missi was to Argentina.”
Ziyech announced earlier this week that he will no longer represent Morocco on the international stage following a dispute with Vahid Halihodzic, the head coach of the Moroccan national team.
The decision sparked an uproar among Moroccan football fans, with the overwhelming majority of fans and commentators pointing fingers at the Bosnian coach and blaming him for the Moroccan team’s quarter-final defeat to Egypt at the just concluded AFCON 2022.
Read also: Ziyech’s Forced Retirement: A Disgrace to Morocco’s Football Federation
In response, Halihodzic has maintained that Ziyech has issues with discipline and commitment that he would not call the Chelsea player back to the Moroccan squad.
As many dispute Halihodzic’s portrayals of Ziyech as talented but a lazy and self-entitled player, the coach is currently at the center of a rising tide of criticism from football fans and commentators.
Most Moroccan football fans and observers have blamed Morocco’s lack of creative force in the midfield and on the left flank on Halilhodzic’s poor and indefensible decision to exclude Ziyech and Ajax left-back Noussair Mazraoui from the national team.
