Ziyech, the player who overcame vices to qualify Morocco to the round of 16

An exquisite touch with his booty started the path to the second round. A gift from the goalkeeper of Canada and Hakim Ziyech already has in mind the resolution to give Morocco the peace of mind of qualifying in Qatar 2022. They beat Canada 2-1 and led their group, ahead of Croatia and Belgium.

Ziyech is one of five Moroccan players playing in Europe’s top leagues. He wears the Chelsea shirt of the Premier League. Hakimi is at PSG, Mazraoui at Bayern, while Bono and En-Nesyri play for Sevilla in Spain.

Today at 29 years old, Hakim Ziyech is an established player. Far from that 10-year-old boy who, after losing his father, dropped out of school and football was not his salvation either.

He was born in the Netherlands, the last of eight children. As he recounted last year in an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Volskrant, his life changed in 2003, at the age of 10, when his father died of multiple sclerosis. “I didn’t go back to school anymore. Soccer didn’t bother me either. I left everything, ”he recounted.

It was when Aziz Doukifar, a former Moroccan soccer player who excelled in the Netherlands, appeared that he was directed. “Hakim completely went off the rails. He drank, smoked and also took drugs. I helped him the best I could to keep him from this bad path.

So it was growing. He trained at ASC Dronten in his hometown, until he caught the attention of Heerenveen at the age of 11 and moved to the club in 2007. His path continued at Twente, where he arrived in 2014 after rejecting an offer from the powerful Feyenoord . It was in 2016 that he signed for Ajax where he showed the best of his game. In 2019 he was part of the team that reached the semifinals of the Champions League, after eliminating Real Madrid in the Round of 16.

chose Morocco

In 2015, Ziyech was a promise in the top divisions of the Netherlands, but he chose to defend the country of his parents. “Stupid”, called him Marco van Basten, then assistant to the Netherlands, the one who made him debut in Heerenveen in 2012, at just 19 years old.

“I just want to play. I don’t speak the language, but I know where I come from,” she explained. Ziyech qualified for Russia 2018, the Netherlands no. Ziyech is already in the round of 16 in Qatar 2022, at the same level as the Dutch.

In Russia 2018 he played all three games, but failed to score or add assists. In Qatar 2022 he already has a goal and a goal pass to the joy of his people.

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