Achraf Hakimi’s panenka, synonymous with a feat against Spain in the round of 16, was quick to inspire his heirs. Only two days later, midfielder Houssam Essadak (17) gave victory to Mohammed VI Academy, during the Africa’s Cup, by achieving the same gesture during the penalty shootout, in the final against the CNEPS Excellence of Thiès (Senegal). This prestigious U19 tournament played in Agadir symbolically honored the Moroccan team, crowned despite the presence of OGC Nice, Red Bull Salzburg or the academies of Jean-Marc Guillou in Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. At the same time, 11 of the 26 Atlas Lions who will challenge France this Wednesday (8 p.m.) in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar, have precisely been trained in the country. The selection had never relied on such local representation for a major competition.
Among them are executives during the immense repeated performances against Belgium, Spain and Portugal, starting with Yassine Bounou, the heroic goalkeeper of Sevilla FC, who was trained at Wydad AC from 8 to 21 years old. There are also defenders Jawad El Yamiq (ex-Khouribga and Raja Casablanca until the age of 26) and Yahia Attiyat-Allah (who is still playing at Wydad), decisive passer on Saturday against Portugal. Added to this list are the former residents of the Mohammed VI Academy Nayef Aguerd, Azzedine Ounahi, and Youssef En-Nesyri, who all underwent complete training in Morocco before joining Europe. So many examples proving that this Moroccan selection is not only based on the talent of its dual nationals Sofiane Boufal and Romain Saïss (France), Sofyan Amrabat, Hakym Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui (Netherlands), Selim Amallah (Belgium), and of course Achraf Hakimi (Spain).
13 million euros invested by King Mohammed VI
“Morocco has been really working on its training for a short time, notes Enzo Djebali, former head of recruitment at Stade de Reims. The Mohammed VI Academy is its flagship, and the realization of an awareness: there was no reason in Africa for the academies of Jean-Marc Guillou and the Paradou Athletic Club (Algeria) to come out of top players, and not Morocco. Before directing the OM training center, Nasser Larguet had been elected by King Mohammed VI in 2008 to carry out this pharaonic project, with a construction cost of 13 million euros. Technical Director until 2014 of this 18-hectare structure (with 8 football pitches, a swimming pool and a weight room) located in Salé (near Rabat), he explains to 20 minutes where was Moroccan football then.
At that time, we had lost the thread in Morocco: the country was no longer training players destined to join Europe. There was no continuity in the training vision. We were increasingly calling on dual nationals in selection, including in the youth categories. The clubs were only interested in young people from the U15 category, when the main championships of the country begin. Their priority was to aim for good results and not to train. »
Add to that absences at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups (then 2010 and 2014), and you understand how urgently the urgency had reached the ears of King Mohammed VI in the 2000s. Nasser Larguet then crisscrossed the whole country to organize dozens of detections from the age of 9, and the first promotion of the Academy was born in September 2009, with Nayef Aguerd already in its ranks. Of the 57 young people released during the four years with Nasser Larguet, 47 became professionals, and a dozen joined European clubs.
Huge work “on the mental side”
U15 trainer and in post at the Mohammed VI Academy since 2010, Abdellatif Belmahdi presents the main focus of a training course which “is not a copy of the models in Europe”: “We want to train for the requirements of the high level, and for that, we work a lot on the mental aspect. In our sessions, the players must, for example, succeed in raising a score in a certain period of time, or else they must be able to resist as well as possible to playing situations in numerical inferiority”. Hey, like Team A did on Saturday during added time in their quarter-final against Portugal (1-0).
The Mohammed VI Academy also knows how to exhibit its talents, by participating in numerous tournaments in Africa and Europe. Last month, his U19s beat the national U19s of Strasbourg and Troyes, as well as the reserve team of Valenciennes (N3) during a tour of France. “Morocco has such a pool of players and such facilities, and not only in our academy, that these kids have nothing to envy to those who are trained in France, indicates Boubacar Gadiaga, Franco-Senegalese trained at the OM and head of the performance division at the Academy. There were a hundred scouts at the Africa’s Cup and we feel that there is a lot of interest around our 2005 generation, with seven players, in my opinion, made for the top level. »
Strasbourg often recruits young players in Morocco
A pool of quality that does not escape French clubs, since Strasbourg has recruited goalkeepers Alaa Bellaarouch and Walid Hasbi for two years, as well as defender Anas Nanah, all trained in Salé. In 2018, the Alsatian club also brought in Azzedine Ounahi, now known worldwide as Luis Enrique’s darling, but without offering him a chance in Ligue 1. After a remarkable 2020-2021 season at Avranches (National), Angers went for it. .. for less than 500,000 euros, and the midfielder has since been one of the rare satisfactions of the SCO in the elite.
He could even bring in a very big check for the club this winter. “We know that there are territories where we cannot exist because of our economic power, such as in South America, confides Sébastien Larcier, who was the Angers sports director at the time of this recruitment. Players trained in Morocco remain inexpensive, and as there is no language barrier, their adaptation is facilitated in France. The potential has always been there in Morocco. »
Scouts attending CHAN and the Academy Tournament
Sébastien Larcier knows something about it, since he also contributed to the arrival of Nayef Aguerd in Dijon in 2018 (for 1.2 M€), before he exploded at Stade Rennais. French observers are still numerous on the CHAN, the African Nations Championship reserved for African players playing on the continent, the last two editions of which were won by Morocco. Likewise, the Mohammed VI Academy tournament will attract eyes from all over Europe, as the local U19s will face Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, or between OM and OL.
The Lyon club also has the particularity of having bet on a partnership, at the end of 2019, with both FUS Rabat (Moroccan D1) and the Mohammed VI Academy. “The two entities are managed directly by the king’s cabinet, specifies Jean-François Vulliez, the director of the OL academy. These are the two most elaborate training projects in Morocco so it was natural to work together over the long term, given our DNA. »
OL, the only French club to have entered into partnerships
Concretely, how is it an advantage for OL to be the only French club to have such an agreement in Morocco, when in three years, only the left side Achraf Laaziri (19), trained at FUS Rabat, has signed a professional contract in Lyon, without the slightest appearance so far in Ligue 1? “The first objective is to share our know-how in order to create the most efficient training course possible, explains Jean-François Vulliez, who travels to Morocco two to three times a year. Afterwards, it would of course be a culmination for a player trained in Rabat or at the Mohammed VI Academy to one day become a Ligue 1 starter at OL. On this part of the recruitment, we are informed of the players who arouse interest. But we are not a priority: players choose to join the project they want. »
Impressed by these structures “worthy of a European training center, in terms of performance support, medical and school monitoring”, Jean-François Vulliez is in any case not surprised by the epic of the Lions of the Atlas in this World Cup: “Given the resources put into this training project, it makes absolute sense to me that Morocco has become the first African country to climb into the last four of a World Cup world. The work is done discreetly but over the long term, and the country is reaping the benefits today, as will perhaps soon be the case in women’s football, which is developing a lot there”. And if Morocco became in 2023 the first African country to reach the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup, from its first participation? After all, in the wake of the adventure of Walid Regragui and his family, this nation seems armed for all challenges.