Chelsea playmaker, Hakim Ziyech
will remain available for the Blues, as his country has omitted his name from the 2021 AFCON squad
By Kehinde Okeowo
London club Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel are the beneficiaries of Coach Vahid Halilhodzic’s bizarre but not surprising decision to leave Hakim Ziyech out of the final squad to represent Morocco in January at the AFCON.
The 28-year-old Chelsea attacker missed all six of his country’s 2022 World Cup qualifying matches and has not played for the Atlas Lions since a friendly against Burkina Faso in July.
The omission seems to be a confirmation of the frosty relationship between Coach Halilhodzic and Hakim Ziyech since no reason was given for ignoring the former Ajax player, who is fit for selection.
Ziyech is arguably Morocco’s most talented player of his generation, and the fact he has been left out of the squad is a very huge call that will have great consequences after the competition.
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Meanwhile, other Moroccan players in the Premier League (PL) such as Wolves centre-back Romain Saiss, as well as Watfords’ duo of Adam Masina and Imran Louza, and QPR midfielder Ilias Chair were included by Vahid Halilhodozic.
Chelsea coach Tuchel will, however, be grateful that the Moroccan coach left one of his senior stars out of his squad, given the selection headaches that most PL coaches are dealing with because of the outbreak of the Omicron version of COVID-19 and the busy yuletide fixtures.
Morocco are in Group C alongside Ghana, Comoros, and Gabon for the tournament in Cameroon, which begins on 9 January and will lasts until 6 February.
