WORLD CUP FOCUS: Morocco sweat on the availability of Nabil Dirar

Nabil Dirar of Morocco evades tackle from Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet of Egypt during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Finals

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Tuesday Jun 12, 2018. 16:00

Morrocco’s 2018 FIFA World Cup ambitions maybe hurt as Nabil Dirar is yet to recover from his injury.

The Atlas Lion, who missed their friendly games against Slovakia and Estonia, has been suffering from a knee injury for the past several weeks.

According to AFP the Moroccan player, who landed in Russia with his teammates, may miss the World Cup.

Coach Hervé Renard has already taken precautions for Dirar’s possible absence and appealed to Amiens defender Oualid El Hajjam to replace the Fenerbahçe player if his condition does not improve.

El Hajjam made his debut for the North Africans in a friendly game against Uzbekistan back in March.

The Moroccan national football team arrived in Russia on Sunday morning to begin their final round of training for the 2018 World Cup, which gets underway on Thursday, June 14.

Morocco are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and are placed in Group B of the World Cup where they will face Iran on June 15, Portugal on June 20, and Spain on June 25.