Brahim Diaz plans to choose Spain over Morocco to bat for Atlas Lions

A week after Morocco’s disappointing exit from the African Cup of Nations, more salt has been poured into the wound.

As Arab and African football’s standard-bearers watch from afar as the tournament in which they were expected to reach the finals continues without them, long-term projects appear to be slipping out of their reach.

He is Brahim Díaz, Real Madrid’s talented playmaker, who thrilled the Bernabéu Stadium in Sunday night’s Madrid derby, which unexpectedly thrust him into the limelight and sparked a new wave for his international future. It became a subject of discussion.

Brahim was scheduled to come on as a substitute against Atletico. Then winger Vinicius Junior was injured just before kick-off, and Brahim started.

He’s having a good 2024 so far. He was trying to get better.

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In the opening 20 minutes, he scored the first goal of the match with nimble footwork and a calm, sharp finish. He could have added a second before half-time, but when Brahim was sent off by manager Carlo Ancelotti with just under 20 minutes remaining, there was confusion around the Bernabeu.

By most consensus he was the home team’s man of the match. Without him, Real lost some momentum. They conceded the equalizer to Atlético in the final stages and lost two points.

Real and Atlético have already faced each other three times this year, in three different competitions. Brahim was Real’s jewel in duels. He came on nine minutes from full-time in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Riyadh, when Atlético were leading 3-2.

Brahim’s run created space for the equalizer. Brahim’s quick and determined run and diagonal strike from 25 yards out secured a 5-3 victory in overtime. Real won the final against Barcelona.

This is Brahim Abdelkader Díaz’s second time in Madrid, and it is another peak in a prolific career for a player who is only 24 years old. He was a prodigy who was scouted by Manchester City at the age of 16 and was part of their Premier League winning campaign before he was 19.

At the end of the 2019-20 season, his first full season after joining Madrid, he won a LaLiga winners’ medal. He joined AC Milan on loan in search of more regular starting appearances, but his contract was renewed for a total of three seasons. He was instrumental in helping Milan win Serie A in 2022 and reach the Champions League semi-finals a year later.

A tug-of-war over Brahim’s senior international career continues through many jumps from one leading club to another.

He was born in Malaga, Spain, to a Moroccan father and a Spanish mother, and has represented Spain in multiple age groups throughout his career, appearing in a senior friendly for Spain in 2021. None of this shall prevent you from exercising your rights as a Moroccan citizen. , plays for the Atlas Lions.

Moroccan national team coach Walid Reglagui has had numerous discussions with Brahim and has made convincing the player his top priority since taking over as manager 18 months ago.

Brahim was offered a place in the 2022 World Cup squad, but he put it on hold. Morocco immediately defeated their native Spain, followed by Portugal, making history as the first African or Arab nation to compete in the World Cup semi-finals.

Regulagui, who has managed to recruit a number of dual-nationality players to the Moroccan national team, got back in touch with Brahim after the Qatar World Cup.

Brahim explained that he was in a real dilemma and wanted time to decide between Spain, where former Under-21 national team coach Luis de la Fuente took over last year, and fast-growing Morocco. did. He said the same thing to de la Fuente.

Both coaches were tired of waiting. While Brahim has shone at Madrid and Morocco’s game against Afcon in Ivory Coast has turned tough, Reglagui has been frustrated over the past two weeks.

Coach Reglagui has long envisioned and detailed to the player the kind of creative role that Brahim could play in the Moroccan side with a clear shape and structure.

He could be a game-changing player for Morocco, who were missing this time last week when Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal were absent through injury. Morocco were unexpectedly outmaneuvered by South Africa in the last 16 round of the Afcon, winning the Reglagui match 2-0. World Cup heroes.

Sources close to Brahim say the procrastination will soon end. After seeing his form in Madrid, de la Fuente is confident that Brahim will be an asset to Spain’s national team at this summer’s European Championships.

However, coach de la Fuente expressed impatience with the unresolved tug-of-war, saying, “Whoever joins the Spanish national team must do everything in his power, not with the threat of, “If you don’t choose me, so do I.” We have to participate.” Go somewhere else. ”

If his health permits, Spain will invite Brahim to the national team next month, and the plan is for Brahim to say yes at the expense of Morocco.

Updated: February 6, 2024, 7:59 AM