Hakim Ziyech of Chelsea will not play for Morocco in the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2022) which is good news for his Premier League club.
The Morocco national team’s coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, decided to leave Hakim Ziyech out of his plans due to a reported feud between him and the Chelsea player.
Ziyech who joined Chelsea from Ajax in 2020, has not played for Morocco national team since June this year. He has missed 6 FIFA World Cup qualifiers so far due to the reported misunderstanding between him and his national team coach.
Hakim Ziyech will probably watch from his apartment in London when Morocco take on Ghana, Comoros, and Gabon in Group G of the tournament.
If the Moroccan team had invited Ziyech for the tournament, he would have been absent when Chelsea take on Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur between January and February 2022.
As it stands, Chelsea will only miss the services of the club’s favorite goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, during the tournament. The goalkeeper is expected to join up with the Senegal national team ahead of AFCON which will kick off on January 9 in Cameroon.
Below is Morocco full AFCON 2022 squad without Hakim Ziyech of Chelsea
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla), Munir (Hatayspor), Anas Zniti (Raja Casablanca)
Defenders: Nayef Aguerd (Stade Rennes), Sofiane Alakouch (Metz), Sofian Chakla (OH Leuven), Souffian El Karouani (NEC Nijmegen), Achraf Hakimi (Paris St Germain), Adam Masina (Watford), Samy Mmaee (Ferencvaros), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Midfielders: Selim Amallah (Standard Liege), Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina), Aymen Barkok (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ilias Chair (Queens Park Rangers), Faycal Fajr (Sivasspor), Imran Louza (Watford), Azzedine Ounahi (Angers)
Forwards: Zakaria Aboukhlal (AZ Alkmaar), Sofiane Boufal (Angers), Munir El Haddadi (Sevilla), Ayoub El Kaabi (Hatayspor), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Barcelona), Ryan Mmaee (Ferencvaros).
Meanwhile, Wilfried Zaha is back to the Ivory Coast squad after he reportedly attempted to back out of the team. Recall that ahead of one of the country’s World Cup qualifiers which Zaha missed, the country’s coach, Patrice Beaumelle claimed that the Crystals Palace winger wanted to “reflect on the rest of his international career.”
But Wilfried Zaha had to stress via a press release that he missed the World Cup qualifiers because he was sick, adding that he did not plan to back out of the team.
He also insisted that he was available for the Ivory Coast national team, noting that it “is an honor” to represent the West Africa country.
Based on this, Wilfried Zaha will be at the forefront in Ivory Coast’s quest to win their third AFCON title. The last time the country won the competition was in 2015.
For Ivory Coast to win the forthcoming edition of the tournament, they will have to go through Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, and Algeria, the defending champions in Group E.
Below is the full Ivory Coast squad for AFCON 2022 including Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace
Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (Wolkite Ketema/ETH), Badra Ali (JDR Stars/RSA), Ira Tapé (FC San Pedro), Cissé Abdul Karim (Asec Mimosas)
Defenders: Serge Aurier (Villareal/ESP), Éric Bailly (Manchester United/ENG), Willy Boly (Wolverhampton/ENG), Wilfried Kanon (Pyramids FC/EGY), Odilon Kossonou (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Simon Deli (Adana Demirspor/TUR); Ghislain Konan (Reims/FRA)
Midfielders: Habib Maiga (Metz/FRA), Serey Die (FC Sion/SUI), Ibrahim Sangaré (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Jean Daniel Akpa Akpro (Lazio/ITA), Franck Kessie (AC Milan/ITA), Hamed Junior Traoré (Sassuolo/ITA), Jean Michael Seri (Fulham/ENG)
Forwards: Maxwell Cornet (Burnley/ENG), Max Gradel (Sivasspor/TUR), Jérémie Boga (Sassuolo/ITA), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace/ENG), Jean Évrard Kouassi (Trabzonspor/TUR), Nicolas Pépé (Arsenal/ENG), Christian Kouame (Anderlecht/BEL), Sebastien Haller (Ajax/NED), Johan Boli (Al- Rayan/QAT), Konaté Karim (Asec Mimosas).
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