Regragui reveals details of attempts to persuade Yamal to represent Morocco

Walid Regragui, the former head coach of Morocco, revealed the details of the attempts made by the Moroccan federation to convince Lamine Yamal, the FC Barcelona star, to choose representing Morocco instead of Spain.

Walid Regragui stated that the case of Lamine Yamal was one of the first matters he worked on after taking charge of the Morocco national team, in collaboration with the president of the federation, at a time when the player was only 14 years old.

Walid Regragui has revealed in a press interview: "We invited Lamine Yamal's father and grandfather to Morocco, and we spoke with them. We have been working on this for two years, and things were going well until it was time to make the final decision."

He added: "We went to FC Barcelona to meet Yamal after one of his matches, in the presence of his cousin and his lawyer, and we presented him with the Moroccan national team project, which included joining the senior team directly, developing with the Atlas Lions, and competing for titles."

He continued: "Two days later, his lawyer called me and told me that he had chosen Spain, but I wanted to hear the decision from him directly, so Lamine called me and said: Coach, I have made my decision, I will play for Spain."

He concluded his remarks: "I told him that he will remain, no matter what happens, Moroccan. We cannot blame a player for making a decision related to the place where he was born and raised...".