Morocco: Sofiane Diop, Vahid Halilhodzic’s surprise?

For the matches of the 5th and 6th days of the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2022, the Atlas Lions face Mauritania (27 March) and Burundi (30 March). During these two matches, Sevillan Munir El Haddadi should logically make his debut with Morocco. Coach Vahid Halilhodzic is also thinking of the young Monegasque attacking midfielder Sofiane Diop.

Born in France to a father of Senegalese origin and a Moroccan mother, Sofiane Diop has not yet officially made his choice between France, Senegal and Morocco. But everything leads us to believe that the 20-year-old Monegasque midfielder dreams of wearing the French Blue jersey, like most binationals. In any case, Moroccan fans hope to see him in Vahid Halilhodzic’s group for the CAN Cameroon 2022 qualifiers against Mauritania (27 March) and Burundi (30 March).

Sofiane Diop, who has already had selections in U18, U19 and U20 of France, is increasingly desired by Senegal, but especially by the Atlas Lions of Morocco. Two selections where he also has the opportunity to play given his paternal and maternal origins. The young player, who displays an Olympic form with AS Monaco in League 1, would strongly interest the technical staff of the Moroccan selection, which would not hesitate to enlist him at the slightest opportunity, like Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech, Yassine Bounou « Bono », Noussair Mazraoui or Munir El Haddadi…

« My father is of Senegalese origin and my mother is Moroccan. My mother’s family lives in France. So I saw them almost every weekend, unlike my father’s family who is in Senegal. As a result, my father often sent me to Senegal alone during the summer holidays because he was working and didn’t have time. That helped me. As a result, it was necessarily easier for me to get away from them, » said Sofiane Diop in an interview with Onze Mondial.

The Atlas Lions, leaders of Group E with 10 points, need only one point to validate their ticket to Cameroon 2022. Nevertheless, Vahid Halilhodzic plays for the 6 points to continue his progression in the FIFA ranking. The coach will also have to take advantage of these two matches to give some playing time to players who have little or no use for it. Especially as the provisional regulations give him the right to make five changes per match.