Rabat – Moroccan-French midfielder Imran Louza wishes to join Atlas Lions in the Paris Olympics after missing the 2022 FIFA World Cup due to a serious ankle injury.
In October, Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui confirmed that Louza would not join the official World Cup squad after sustaining a fractured fibula and ligament damage during a game against London’s Millwall FC.
Overnight, the player lost his childhood dream to participate in the World Cup.
“Hard news to accept, but last night one of my biggest dreams was gone,” Louza tweeted after his injury. “I have no choice but to stand up and fight for my family and everyone who believes in me. I will come back stronger than ever.”
However, the midfielder of England’s Watford Hornets is determined to represent his paternal land in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 23-year-old represented Morocco in the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and is likely to make it to the 2023 squad.
“I was lucky enough to wear the Moroccan shirt at the AFCON,” he said in the World at their Feed series. “It was an important moment for me,” he added.
Louza hopes to represent Morocco in the Paris Olympics if the Atlas Lions qualify for the tournament. “It’s important for the country that the Olympic Games are taking place in Paris. I’d love to participate in the Olympic Games,” he said.
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The former player of FC Nantes scored twice in five games in England’s second-tier league this season prior to his injury.
Born in Nantes in 1999 to a Moroccan father and French mother, Louza experienced “quite a difficult childhood,” he said in the series. “I won’t lie, it was hard.”
The midfielder explained his childhood story saying, “Growing up in a poor neighborhood instills other types of important values. You can take a different path when you grow up that way but thanks to my mother, I avoided all of that.”
However, Louza soon found a “second family,” in FC Nantes, the club’s Academy Director Samuel Fenillat shared.
With the support of his mother, Louza joined the youth academy of the local club FC Nantes with the hope of establishing a professional football career. However, his surroundings were expecting him to join the French national team one day.
“The thing is, when you’re part of a French club, you’re always told the French national team should be your goal,” Louza stated.
Despite growing up in France and being close to his mother, the midfielder chose to represent Morocco in international tournaments.
“I believed this when I was young but over time, I realized this wasn’t what I wanted,” he said.
Louza made his debut first with the Moroccan U20’s team before joining the French U20’s and U21’s in 2019. Two years later, he returned to the Atlas Lions after being called up by former coach Vahid Halilhodzic in August 2021.
His career with the Moroccan national team was short, however, Louza hopes to best serve his country in the coming Olympics.
