Sofyan Amrabat has announced he won’t be playing for the Morocco national team anymore, at least not under the current coach, Mohamed Ouahbi. This comes as a surprise, especially since Amrabat, who is 30 and just moved to AFC Ajax, was a key player in Morocco’s run to the World Cup semi-finals back in 2022.
He stated quite plainly that he can’t continue representing the national team with Ouahbi in charge. It seems the relationship between them has been strained for a while, particularly after Amrabat’s playing time dropped significantly during the recent World Cup qualifiers. He only started one out of six games.
Amrabat mentioned he’s keeping the specific reasons for the disputes private out of respect for the team, but he made it clear that things between him and the coach are beyond fixing. He also stressed that this isn’t a permanent retirement from international football. He’s willing to play for Morocco again, but only if the coaching situation changes.
This puts the Moroccan Football Federation in a tough spot right before their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Gabon and Lesotho. Amrabat said he’ll be cheering his teammates on from the sidelines, but his departure definitely puts more pressure on coach Ouahbi as the team heads into these important games.
