Azzedine Ounahi has been on the coronary heart of Morocco’s run to the World Cup semi-finals, tirelessly stamping his authority on the midfield and rising as one of many revelations of the match. Yassine Bounou’s penalty-saving heroics stole the headlines within the final 16, but it surely was Ounahi who caught the attention of Spain coach Luis Enrique following his aspect’s shootout loss to Morocco. “I used to be stunned by (Ounahi). My goodness, the place does that boy come from?” requested Luis Enrique, in awe of the midfielder’s “spectacular” show.
“He performs just like the Spanish gamers. He performs rather well. I used to be very stunned. He hasn’t stopped working, he should be exhausted.”
On Wednesday he’ll face France, the place he has cast his membership profession.
It was solely 18 months in the past that Ounahi was toiling away within the French third tier, his slender physique put by means of the rigours of lower-league soccer — a significant stepping stone on his journey.
Ounahi is considered one of 4 gamers within the Morocco squad who’re a product of the Mohammed VI Academy in Sale, a state-of-the-art facility opened in 2009 and designed to develop the nation’s younger expertise.
Morocco’s big funding in its soccer infrastructure — after quite a few failed bids to host the World Cup — is paying off, because the efficiency of the Atlas Lions in Qatar has proven.
Moroccan golf equipment are additionally the dominant power in African soccer proper now — winners of the boys’s and girls’s Champions League titles in addition to the Confederation Cup.
As well as, the Atlas Lionesses grew to become the primary ever North African workforce to qualify for the Ladies’s World Cup by advantage of ending runners-up as hosts of this 12 months’s Africa Cup of Nations.
These successes are mirrored by the progress made by the 22-year-old Ounahi, who has come on leaps and bounds since first signing for Strasbourg after leaving his homeland in 2018.
‘Telephone ringing quite a bit’
He’s now with Ligue 1 membership Angers, who’ve made a behavior of creating and promoting on gamers resembling Nicolas Pepe, Karl Toko Ekambi and present Morocco captain Romain Saiss.
They’re conscious it will not be lengthy earlier than Ounahi departs.
“Is the cellphone ringing? It is ringing quite a bit,” Angers chairman Mentioned Chabane instructed France’s RMC of the curiosity in Ounahi and countryman Sofiane Boufal, who has additionally began each recreation in Qatar.
“You realize very effectively that we will not maintain again a participant who needs to depart,” added Chabane, whose workforce sit backside of France’s high flight after heading into the World Cup break with seven straight defeats.
Ounahi made his Ligue 1 debut initially of final season, regularly forcing his method into the beginning line-up for an Angers aspect that completed 14th.
He earned a call-up from Vahid Halilhodzic for the AFCON in Cameroon, successful his first cap in a 1-0 victory over Ghana however dropping to the bench as soon as Morocco reached the knockout rounds.
A bystander throughout the fractious quarter-final exit to Egypt, Ounahi seized his alternative with each arms within the World Cup play-off in opposition to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Unused within the 1-1 draw within the first leg, Ounahi struck twice and grabbed an help in a 4-1 win within the return conflict to seal Morocco’s place in Qatar.
He has began 10 of his nation’s 11 video games since, each bit as invaluable to Walid Regragui, the French-born former Morocco worldwide who changed Halilhodzic as coach in August.
“Azzedine is a good participant, he is received plenty of excessive degree qualities, he is solely 22, he nonetheless has room for enchancment, however I believe he’ll play for an enormous membership,” stated Regragui.
“He must make the best decisions.”
Ounahi, who has excelled alongside midfield enforcer Sofyan Amrabat, is a reported goal for Barcelona. Fiorentina star Amrabat, 26, can be stated to be on Liverpool’s radar.
A relative unknown outdoors his homeland and France, the place solely Lionel Messi has accomplished extra dribbles in Ligue 1 this season, few are unlikely to neglect Ounahi’s identify after the World Cup.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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