He did not escape the question. After the victory against the Comoros (2-0), Sunday December 21, during the opening of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) organized in Morocco, Walid Regragui was questioned at a press conference about the state of health of Achraf Hakimi. The coach of the Moroccan football team had himself entertained doubts before the match as to whether his player would be present or not.
But if he was in uniform and participated in the warm-up before the match, the Moroccan defender ultimately did not participate in his team’s success. Victim of a sprained ankle following a violent tackle on November 4 in the Champions League with PSG against Bayern Munich, the African Golden Ball has since been launched into a race against time.
“We need Hakimi because he is the best African player”
A race that should end soon. “We didn’t take any risks,” explains the coach about his choice to leave the Parisian on the bench all evening. He’s coming back, he’s already coming back faster than expected. We are being very careful because we really want to get him back for this tournament. We don’t want to get him back just for 20 minutes or for a match. So we will see within 48 hours how he is to see if he can start against Mali (Friday December 26). We are convinced that he will play in this CAN. »
The captain of the Atlas Lions, the nickname given to the Moroccan selection, could even have had a few minutes of playing time on Sunday but the coach preferred not to take any risks for the opening of the tournament. “We need Hakimi because he is the best African player,” explains Regragui. He’s one of the best players in the world, so there isn’t a team in the world that can afford to play without their best player. With a Hakimi today, we would surely have been better. » This will perhaps be the case in a few days against Mali.
