Rabat- Hachim Mastour, AC Milan’s midfielder, has reportedly welcomed his inclusion on the list of players called to play on head coach Badou Ezzaki’s Morocco’s national team, according to Hesport.
Mastour is among the 30 players the Moroccan coach called ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations first qualifying match against Libya, scheduled to take place on June 12 in Agadir, in southern Morocco.
One of Mastour’s relatives told Hesport that the Moroccan young player is ready to play for the Morocco and put an end to the speculation on which national team he would eventually choose.
Since entering the spotlights a few years ago, Italian and Moroccan observers have wondered whether the Moroccan player will play for Italy or Morocco.
It seems that the player has taken his time to reflect on his decision and has learned from the experience of other promising players who faced similar situations in recent years.
According to the same source, Moroccan-Spanish player Mounir Haddadi affected Mastour’s decision. Haddadi decided to play for Spain, only for Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque to leave him off the team after he played his first official match with the Spanish squad.
The other factor that allegedly influenced Mastour’s decision is the fate of several Brazilian players who decided to play for the Italian squad and were sidelined after they played for the first time, killing any hope for them to represent their home country.
The same source added that the Moroccan player is waiting for the Moroccan Football Federation to send a formal request to AC Milan so he can officially declare his intention to play for Morocco.
Mastour became a household name in 2013 after British sports website Footballbettingodds.co.uk named him the world’s top rising stars on a list of 100 rising football players.
The young Moroccan started his career with Reggina before his transfer to AC Milan in 2012 for a world-record teenage transfer, worth 500,000 euros.
The player, who will turn 17 next June, made his debut on AC Milan’s first squad in May 2014.
“He has the quality of Robinho, the professionalism of Kaka, and the natural ability of Ballotelli,” Milan’s former coach Massimiliano Allegri was quoted saying about Mastour.
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