This is a subject that regularly marks the news of the selections. Very often, the Federations engage in “battles” to convince players who have several nationalities, often torn between the country where they grew up, and their country of origin. The examples are very numerous, like Houssem Aouar who has just chosen Algeria to the detriment of the Blues. Morocco is also regularly confronted with this phenomenon, with its very large diaspora all over Europe. Brahim Diaz, born in Spain to a Moroccan father and a Spanish mother, is thus at the heart of a small war between the two countries.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper The countryMoroccan coach Walid Regragui returned to this case and to that of dual nationals in general. “That a player nationalizes does not imply a social failure, it is just the expression of a feeling. That Laporte plays with Spain is not a failure for France. Maybe he felt more Spanish having done his training in Spain”first launched the Atlas Lions coach.
The Mbappé example
Then, he confided that the norm for dual nationals remains to choose the country where they were born. “Why Mbappé, who could have done it, did not play with Cameroon or Algeria, and chose France? Normality is that players choose the country where they grow up. This is the case of Brahim Diaz. He is 23 years old, he must decide who he wants to marry”, explained Regragui. Pressure on Diaz? Some will probably interpret it that way…
“Only a binational knows what it is to be a binational. No one can put themselves in the place of a son born in Europe of Moroccan, Colombian or Peruvian parents. I am grateful to France, I was born there, I was educated there and I raised myself there socially. I played football in France, but I don’t forget my parents’ story. All I ask is that those who play with us don’t do it by default.”, also launched the Moroccan. The message got through!
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