"Unacceptable" - Morocco boss Vahid Halilhodzic drops Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech from Morocco World Cup qualifiying squad
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Updated 02/09/2021 at 14:39 GMT
Ziyech has 41 caps for his country, a tally not likely to rise for the forseeable future following Halihodzic's scatching allegations against the winger yesterday. The 69-year-old Bosnian, head coach of the national side since 2019, accused the Chelsea man of feigning injury to get out of playing during Morocco's last round of international fixtures.
Hakim Ziyech (Maroc)
Image credit: Getty Images
Morocco head coach Vahid Halihodzic has dropped Hakim Ziyech from the latest World Cup qualifiers squad, slamming the Chelsea midfielder for “unacceptable” behaviour.
Halihodzic alleged that the 28-year-old feigned injury during to avoid playing in a 1-0 friendly victory over Ghana during the previous international break in June.
Ziyech was brought on as a second half substitute during the game, with the Bosnian-born coach claiming that the player had refused to warm up before coming on.
“For the first time in my coaching career, I have seen behaviour that disappoints me", Halidhozic said in a press conference yesterday.
“A player who refuses to play a game, admittedly a friendly, on the pretext that he is injured.
The medical staff made several examinations and said he could play. He then refused to warm up in the second half because he was disappointed to be a substitute. For me, that type of behaviour is unacceptable. You can't cheat with the national team. You are 100% there or you are not.
As a result of his omission, Ziyech will miss two of Morocco’s upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, tonight’s fixture with Sudan and a second match against Guinea on Monday.
Since making his debut in October 2015, Ziyech has made 41 appearances for the national side, scoring 17 times.
A Champions League winner with Chelsea last season, the winger is one of the nation’s most high-profile players.
Though for Halidhozic, nobody is bigger than the team.
“His behaviour in the last two matches, especially the last one, was not that of a national team player who as a leader in the team has to be a positive role model”, Halidhozic added.
He arrived late and after that, he even refused to work. There was no point in discussing it afterwards, as a coach the answer is right there to see. For me, the national team is above everything, nobody can hold it hostage.
Having suffered an arm injury that forced him off during the UEFA Super Cup against Villarreal in Belfast, a game in which he opened the scoring, Ziyech returned to Chelsea’s matchday squad as an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Saturday.
With his destiny firmly set to the club’s Cobham training ground for the duration of the international break, the winger will look to make a better impression under his club manager Thomas Tuchel in order to contest a starting spot for the visit of Aston Villa on September 11.
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