Fez – Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech appears to have closed the door for a potential return to Morocco’s national football team ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
According to the international sports outlet ESPN, the Moroccan international has remained steadfast in his stance not to return to Morocco’s Atlas Lions squad as long as the Franco-Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic is at the head of the team’s management.
According to football commentator Hans Kraay Jr., Ziyech told his entourage that he’ll never play under Halilhodizic’s leadership again, no matter what happens.
“I will never play under [the management of] this national team coach again, no matter what he does. Whether he flies high, flies low, stands on my doorstep, wants to sleep in my attic or in the basement, I will not play under the command of this coach,” Kraay quoted Ziyech as saying.
The news came within a few hours after Halilhodzic had unveiled the squad list for the national team’s upcoming games, without Ziyech featuring among the 24 summoned players.
Read also: Morocco’s Atlas Lions Squad List: Mazraoui Makes Long-Awaited Return
Ziyech’s ongoing absence from the national team puts to bed — for now at least — recent speculations about a potential comeback to the national team.
Still, while Halilhozic reiterated in today’s press conference that the door of the Moroccan football team is open for everyone who is willing to give their all, Ziyech maintained in his latest statement that he will not return to the Moroccan squad.
During the past week, several reports indicated that Halilhodzic was reportedly planning to meet with Chelsea’s creative midfielder to settle their long-standing misunderstanding ahead of a potential return of the Moroccan winger to the national team.
Contented by the long-awaited return of FC Bayern Munich’s right-back Noussair Mazraoui, Moroccan football fans waited with bated breath for the much-needed comeback of Ziyech who is widely regarded to be the missing puzzle in the Moroccan squad’s attacking line.
Yet, as days passed by, Moroccan fans’ hopes appeared to be fading little by little, especially when Ziyech shared pictures of him leaving for a holiday abroad while his fellow mates were expected to travel to Morocco ahead of the preparations for their friendly game against the United States football team on June 1.
Holilhodzic’s squad list came to further solidify this idea, dashing Moroccans’ hopes of a potential comeback of Ziyech ahead of Morocco’s Atlas Lions’ warm-up games for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
