Achraf Hakimi, side royal of Morocco – Liberation

The Moroccan player, passed by Real Madrid and friend of Mbappé, with whom he plays in Paris, faces Portugal this Saturday for an unprecedented ticket to the semi-finals.

The dazzling career of the Moroccan national team in Qatar has enabled many of its 16 dual nationals (out of 26 players selected) to cross paths with their country of birth. Canada, Belgium, Spain have fallen by the wayside; in the meantime, who knows, a possible semi-final and a new reunion against France then a possible final rout against Argentina, Sunday, December 18. Like two other of his Spanish-born teammates, Achraf Hakimi was responsible for sending an overly sufficient Roja to the bottom on Tuesday in the round of 16.

The 24-year-old Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) full-back grew up in Getafe, on the outskirts of Madrid. His parents, from Oued Zem and Ksar Al-Kébir, near Tangier, arrived in Spain at the end of the 80s. His mother, Fatima, works as a cleaning lady while Hassan, his father, is toiling in the Majadahonda market, in the suburbs of the capital. Mbappé’s future great pal shapes his technique near the family home in the barrio of Las Margaritas before recruiters from Real Madrid came to enlist him in 2006. He has just turned 8 years old.

“Putting oneself in question”

He will do all his training there in the White House. After having started as a striker and then a winger, his educators see in his qualities as a counter-attacker the perfect prototype of the modern right-back. Zidane made him start with the Merengues in 2016 but he will not last forever in the club of his city. As at PSG, young people are hardly prophets at home in Madrid. Loaned to Dortmund for two seasons, he bounced back to Inter Milan before being poached by Paris. “Leaving Spain did him good. He had to reconsider. He played in demanding clubs and leagues. He has improved his background and as physically he is a monster, he has become one of the best in the world. summarizes Vahid Halilhodzic, his former coach at the Atlas Lions.

From the age of 14, Morocco tries to get Hakimi to start in the youth selection. He will start directly with the A team in October 2016 when he is only 17 years old. The Spanish Technical Direction had tried to make him opt for his colors. In vain. “My culture is Moroccan. At home, we spoke Moroccan. I watched the matches of the selection with my father who told me a lot about the great players of the country. I was very well received there and I feel good there”, he said to The country, few years ago. On Tuesday, after scoring the winning shot on goal against Spain, he broke into a celebration where he imitated a penguin. Reference to Kylian Mbappé, who said about him just before the World Cup: “I who know him more intimately, he came back this year with other intentions, a daily requirement.”

“Thinking Faster”

Like his idol, former Real Brazilian left-back Marcelo, Achraf Hakimi takes up a lot of space in the Morocco team which will play for history this Saturday afternoon. Walid Regragui’s team will try to do better than Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) to become the first African team to reach the last four. “This Moroccan generation, which comes from everywhere, is invested with a mission. She plays for an entire country, the diaspora, a region and even an entire continent,” observes Hervé Renard, coach of Morocco between 2016 and 2019. As a kid, the Moroccan international returned to play in the neighborhood while playing for Real. “The street gives you intelligence and a little spark to think faster, be the smartest, he said to Brandlast year. Thanks to God, I received a gift and then I knew how to seize my chance. I am a privileged, happy boy living every child’s dream. When I play, I try to be like when I was having fun in the neighborhood. This Saturday, it will also be about thinking faster and outsmarting Portugal. The price to pay to reach the heights of world football.