The Moroccan national team is set to compete in the Paris Olympics in July. On paper, Yassine Bounou seems like an ideal candidate to be one of the three overage players allowed. However, the Al-Hilal goalkeeper is unlikely to be part of the squad. Here’s why.
On Tuesday, the media outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed revealed that Bounou didn’t have a good experience at the 2012 London Olympics. The late Dutch coach Pim Verbeek chose Mohamed Amsif as the starting goalkeeper at the last minute, leaving Bounou psychologically scarred by the experience. He doesn’t want to subject his young compatriot Alaâ Belarouch to a similar situation, especially considering Belarouch’s crucial role in the team’s qualification and victory at the U23 CAN last summer.
“He doesn’t want to cause a psychological crisis for Belarouch, especially since he himself experienced a similar situation 12 years ago, despite his significant role in the team’s qualification for the London Olympics,” the newspaper explains. While this might be disappointing news for the Atlas Lions, it’s undoubtedly a positive development for Belarouch, who has been a regular starter for RC Strasbourg this season (15 appearances in Ligue 1). Unless Munir El Kajoui (35 years old), whose name is frequently mentioned, claims the starting spot. What about Hakimi and Diaz?
Tarik Sektioui, the U23 coach, will soon announce the list of players called up for the closed training camp at the Mohamed VI center in Rabat, scheduled for June 2nd. This initial list will consist of 26 names and will later be reduced to 18. Only three players over the age of 23 are allowed. Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain) is likely to be part of the squad, but it might be more challenging for Brahim Diaz, who is also mentioned.
🚨🚨🚨: Urgent
— SPL 🇸🇦 (@ActuSPL) May 22, 2024
Yassine Bounou s'excuse de ne pas participer aux JO de Paris et donne la priorité au gardien Alaa Bellaarouch, qui a permis au Maroc de se qualifier pour les JO.
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(@KhvayaClubs) pic.twitter.com/G6nRPVq2Qr
His club, Real Madrid, is not keen on releasing its French internationals (Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy, and Kylian Mbappé) for the Olympics, so it’s plausible that the same fate will befall the Malaga-born player. It was also recently announced that Eliasse Ben Seghir (19 years old), who doesn’t fall into the overage category like the previously mentioned players, will definitely be released by his club AS Monaco.
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