Morocco: Hakim Ziyech and back for the 2022 World Cup

Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech will make his comeback with Morocco after announcing his international retirement due to a quarrel with former coach Vahid Halilhodzic, new coach Walid Regragui announced on Monday.

“The communication between us was clear. I explained to him that we want the best players on the national team, he is part of it. He wanted to come back,” said Regragui, appointed head of the Atlas Lions at the end of August, at a press conference in Rabat.

“He is a player who loves his country and he proved it from the beginning by choosing to defend the colors of Morocco,” added the coach, during the presentation of his selection for the friendly matches against Chile and Paraguay, the last gathering before the World Cup in Qatar.

The 28-year-old Moroccan star had announced his international retirement at the beginning of February following a mood incompatibility with Vahid Halilhodzic, who accused him of a “lack of respect” threatening the cohesion of the group. “The player who refuses to train, who refuses to play, who simulates injuries, for me it is a finished story,” the coach said in an interview with a Croatian television channel last April.