September 12, 2022
The brief from today:
Regragui confirms his first Morocco squad
Morocco’s new coach, Walid Regragui, who just took the position two weeks ago, has announced his first squad for next week’s international break. Following the sacking of previous coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, all eyes were on Regragui to see if he would recall players that had fallen out with his predecessor. Among those names were some influential ones including: Hakim Ziyech, Noussair Mazraoui, and Younes Belhanda, who all had tense relationships with the former manager leading to their exclusions. It was expected that the change in coach would reopen communication lines with each of those players, and in turn lead to potential call-ups, and now the confirmation has arrived. For the scheduled international friendlies against Chile and Paraguay, Regragui has called up all three of the aforementioned players, a welcome selection by the fans with the World Cup drawing closer. Regragui made it clear that he reached out Ziyech, in particular, to clear the air following the particularly acrimonious history he and Halilhodzic had, and Regragui’s hope now is that all players can focus on performing at the highest level. The new coach also stated that his particular interest isn’t in having the best personal relationship with each squad member, he is more concerned with them contributing at a maximum level when playing for Morocco. As long as that is the mentality and culture of the players, Regragui said they can expect to be eligible for inclusion in his plans.
Ziyech is back in the Morocco squad after a long absence
Rising tension in France’s stadiums
Following a raft of incidents in France last season involving fans clashing with each other, as well as with players, both in the stands and on the pitch, security has been a major concern going into this campaign. The clashes between Nice and Koln fans during last week’s Europa Conference League at Nice’s Allianz Stadium, has put authorities on heightened alert for this week’s set of European fixtures. While two matches were already pinpointed as high security risks, last week’s incident increased the threat level further. The games in question are: Marseille versus Frankfurt and Rennes versus Fenerbahce. The first match is a Champions League match, and will draw more fans to Marseille’s Velodrome stadium, but the reputation Frankfurt fans developed last season during their team’s run to Europa League victory is also a concern. The Frankfurt fans that make away trips were known to purchase large numbers of tickets in the home fans’ section of stadiums last year, which resulted in them having a larger presence even on the road. Marseille have gone to great lengths to ensure such purchases wouldn’t be possible, but for the few incidents that may slip through, those fans will be escorted out of the home fans’ section to avoid any tension. Roughly 5000 Frankfurt fans are expected Marseille, with just over 3000 of them being official ticket holders. The threat level for that match has been ramped up to a maximum of five on a five point scale. Meanwhile, elsewhere in France, Rennes will be hosting Fenerbahce for their Europa League match on Thursday. The Ligue 1 side has opted to limit ticket sales at their 30,000 capacity, Roazhon Park, to just 19,000 “out of precaution”. The call was made to reduce fan attendance, and mitigate risk, after this match was also placed on the high threat list following the Nice and Koln incident. Slightly over 1000 Fenerbahce fans are expected to make the trip to Rennes, but the hope is that since the limitations were mainly placed on Rennes fans, tension will be at a minimum.
Marseille’s, Stade Velodrome, will be on high alert for this week’s Champions clash with Frankfurt