Azzedine Ounahi has been at the heart of Morocco’s run to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, tirelessly stamping his authority on the midfield and emerging as one of the revelations of the tournament.
Azzedine Ounahi has been at the heart of Morocco’s run to the World Cup semi-finals, lifelessly stamping his authority on the midfield and arising as one of the exposures of the event. Yassine Bounou’s penalty- saving heroics stole the captions in the last 16, but it was Ounahi who caught the eye of Spain trainer Luis Enrique following his side’s shootout loss to Morocco.” I was surprised by( Ounahi). My virtuousness, where does that boy come from?” asked Luis Enrique, in admiration of the midfielder’s” spectacular” display.
“He plays like the Spanish players. He plays really well. I was veritably surprised. He hasn’t stopped running, he must be exhausted.”
On Wednesday he’ll face France, where he has forged his club career.
It was only 18 months ago that Ounahi was toiling down in the French third league, his slender constitution put through the rigours of lower- league football– a vital stepping gravestone on his trip.
Ounahi is one of four players in the Morocco team who are a product of the Mohammed VI Academy in trade, a state- of- the- art installation opened in 2009 and designed to develop the country’s youthful gift.
Morocco‘s huge investment in its football structure– after multitudinous failed flings to host the World Cup– is paying off, as the performance of the Atlas Lions in Qatar has shown.
Moroccan clubs are also the dominant force in African football right now– winners of the men’s and women’s titleholders League titles as well as the Confederation Cup.
In addition, the Atlas Lionesses came the first ever North African platoon to qualify for the Women’s World Cup by virtue of finishing runners- up as hosts of this time’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Those successes are reflected by the progress made by the 22- time-old Ounahi, who has come on hops and bounds since first signing for Strasbourg after leaving his motherland in 2018.
He’s now with Ligue 1 club Angers, who have made a habit of developing and dealing on players similar as Nicolas Pepe, Karl Toko Ekambi and current Morocco captain Romain Saiss.
They’re apprehensive it will not be long before Ounahi departs.
“Is the phone ringing? It’s ringing quite a lot,” Angers president Said Chabane told France’s RMC of the interest in Ounahi and countryman Sofiane Boufal, who has also started every game in Qatar.
“You know veritably well that we can not hold back a player who wants to leave,” added Chabane, whose platoon sit bottom of France’s top flight after heading into the World Cup break with seven straight defeats.
Ounahi made his Ligue 1 debut at the morning of last season, gradationally forcing his way into the starting line- up for an Angers side that finished 14th.
He earned a call- up from Vahid Halilhodzic for the AFCON in Cameroon, winning his first cap in a 1- 0 palm over Ghana but dropping to the bench once Morocco reached the knockout rounds.
A observer during the fractious quarter-final exit to Egypt, Ounahi seized his occasion with both hands in the World Cup play- off against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Unused in the 1- 1 draw in the first leg, Ounahi struck doubly and seized an help in a 4- 1 palm in the return clash to seal Morocco’s place in Qatar.
He has started 10 of his country’s 11 games since, every bit as precious to Walid Regragui, the French- born former Morocco transnational who replaced Halilhodzic as trainer in August.
“Azzedine is a great player, he is got a lot of high position rates, he is only 22, he still has room for enhancement, but I suppose he’ll play for a big club,” said Regragui.
Ounahi, who has bettered alongside midfield enforcer Sofyan Amrabat, is a reported target for Barcelona. Fiorentina star Amrabat, 26, is also said to be on Liverpool’s radar.
A relative unknown outside his motherland and France, where only Lionel Messi has completed more dribbles in Ligue 1 this season, many are doubtful to forget Ounahi’s name after the World Cup. Read More FIFA News…
