Chelsea playmaker Hakim Ziyech has renewed his withdrawal from the Moroccan national team due to the retention of Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic as head of the Atlas Lions’ technical management.
Ziyech has 40 international caps for Morocco, in which he scored 17 goals, but did not play a single match for the Lions for almost a year due to a dispute with national team coach Halilhodzic, who expelled him after accusing him of unprofessionalism and confusing teammates.
Halilhodzic recently tried to hold a conciliatory meeting with Ziyech to defuse the tension between them, but his efforts failed, leaving the Chelsea star still absent from the Moroccan squad.
As soon as the Moroccan Football Federation announced yesterday, Wednesday, the roster of the Atlas Lions to face the United States of America in a friendly that did not include Ziyech’s name, former Dutch player Hans Kray confirmed to ESPN what Ziyech had told his close associates : “I will no longer play under this coach (Khalilozic). I will not play with this coach.”
