Many Moroccan national team players have opted to spend their annual leave away from the sports buzz.
With the new year, they anticipate joining the “Lions” camp in preparation for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, set to kick off on January 13 in Ivory Coast.
In its weekend edition, Al Sabah newspaper highlighted aspects of the vacation of the Moroccan national team stars.
It noted that many Moroccan players chose to visit Saudi Arabia, accompanying their small or extended families for Umrah (pilgrimage).
Notable figures among them include Amin Harit, Aziz Bouhaddouz, Sofiane Boufal, and the goalkeepers Yassine Bounou and Munir El Haddadi, even though the latter two play in the Saudi Professional League.
The newspaper added that team captain Romain Saiss preferred to return early to Morocco, spending time with his family and sharing daily training updates to maintain his physical fitness before joining the Moroccan national team camp.
On the other hand, some players opted for a leisurely New Year’s holiday in Dubai, UAE.
Among them are Amine Richardson, Ismael El Sahibi, and Hakim Ziyech, the latter currently with Galatasaray for the Turkish Super Cup.
Ziyech plans to remain in Dubai before directly joining the Moroccan “Lions” camp.
A standout choice was made by Paris Saint-Germain star Achraf Hakimi, who chose the cold Alpine mountains and the harshness of winter for his New Year’s holiday.
Sharing pictures with his family and non-football friends who accompanied him on the journey, Hakimi enjoyed the serenity before joining the Moroccan national team camp at the beginning of the upcoming year.
