Moroccan National Team Prepares for Matches Against Cape Verde and South Africa, With Hamdallah’s Presence in Question

It seems that the question is about Abd al-Razzaq Hamdallah; The Morocco striker and the Saudi Al-Ittihad professional will continue to pursue Walid Regragui; The technical director of the Atlas Lions, in every press conference he holds, in a way that angered him this time.

The Moroccan national team is currently in a preparation camp to face Cape Verde in a friendly match tomorrow, Monday, while it will meet South Africa on June 17, in the sixth round of the group stage in the 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, Ivory Coast.

During the press conference held yesterday by Regragui, he talked about the journalists’ talk about the reasons for summoning Hamdallah, despite not using him, claiming that he is one of the names imposed on the national coach by the Moroccan Football Federation, which angered him.

And the coach of Morocco said, during the conference, angrily, according to what was reported by the “Al-Mukhtab” newspaper: “I challenge those who wrote that the summoning of Hamdallah bypassed Regragui, but rather he must provide evidence that someone summoned the player, I assure you that I summoned Abdel Al-Razzaq, and I am responsible for my choices, and I am the one who summons any player, so there is no need to promote such matters. I will not be shaken by anything, because my conviction is complete in the work that I do, and praise be to God, we are the strongest in Africa.

He added: “The same thing I repeat to you again, I will not summon any player you impose on me, I am the one who chooses the formation, and there is no need for the pressure that you impose on me. And I decided to exclude Sufyan Rahimi and summon Hamdallah, who will be official in the Cape Verde match, and I hope he will be as good as I think.”

It is worth noting that Regragui returned Hamdallah to the national team after an absence of years, due to crises and disagreements with officials and coaches, as he was part of the 2022 Qatar World Cup squad, but he participated as a substitute for only a few minutes, and gave a poor performance, which prompted the Moroccan press to question the reasons for his call-up after the World Cup.