The hero will push back the terrain. Injured since November 4 and a major ankle sprain suffered after a tackle by Luis Diaz with Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Achraf Hakimi will make his comeback to competition. As announced on Saturday, the right back will have the opportunity to play again during Morocco’s third match of the 2025 African Cup of Nations against Zambia (Monday, 8 p.m.).
“It is certain that Achraf will play tomorrow, the question is whether he will start or not,” announced coach Walid Regragui at a press conference. But in any case, it will be his first CAN match. What we want and what we had planned, because we still want to go as far as possible, is for Achraf to progress with the team and for us to keep him for the entire competition. »
“Could a coach do without his Ballon d’Or? I think people don’t realize Achraf’s contribution to our team. We played two matches without our Golden Ball, without our best player, without our leader, without our captain, but we made no secret of our performances. We have players who take over and they take it very well. But would we be a different team with Ashraf? Certainly. We have the best player in Africa, one of the best players in the world now. In terms of leadership, in terms of caring to come back, what he has done is extraordinary,” he explained moments earlier.
Regragui thanks PSG
A comeback that could hardly have been possible without the help of Paris Saint-Germain, who participated in the successful recovery of the African Golden Ball. And Walid Regragui did not fail to emphasize this at a press conference.
“The club and Nasser al-Khelaïfi, its president, were very classy. Because they left Ashraf at our disposal. They still let him come almost 15 days before. There is not a club in the world that would have said: We leave you at your disposal, we trust you. (…) Thanks to them in any case. If today, Achraf is back, it is also thanks to PSG who played the game for us. »
The captain of the Atlas Lions did not take part in his team’s first two matches in the competition, against the Comoros (2-0) and against Mali (1-1). The European champion with Paris will finally be able to help Morocco in its quest for qualification for the round of 16 and first place in Group A: to do this it will be necessary to overcome Zambia on Monday evening.
