Morocco’s Hakimi takes on his home country of Spain in the World Cup

Achraf Hakimi was born in Madrid, but he will not hesitate to try to knock Spain out of the World Cup when he and his Moroccan teammates take to the pitch this Tuesday (6th) at 4pm.

The full-back is one of the key players in the North African national team, whose round of 16 match against Spain at the Education City stadium in Al-Rayyan will give them the chance to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time.

“I felt like it wasn’t the right place for me [a Espanha], I didn’t feel at home. It wasn’t for anything in particular, but it wasn’t how I lived at home, which is Arab culture, being Moroccan,” he told Spanish newspaper Marca.

Hakimi’s father was a street vendor in Madrid and his mother cleaned houses.

Their son was signed by Real Madrid aged seven, made the first team, was loaned to Borussia Dortmund, won the Serie A title with Inter Milan and now plays alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain .

And he is still only 24 years old.

It won’t be the first time he plays against Spain. Hakimi was on the team that nearly beat them in 2018 — the game ended in a 2-2 World Cup tie in Russia.

“Four years of experience means I’m in a more mature mindset,” he said. “Spain are one of the top five teams and they always come to the World Cup to win. But our coach also taught us to have a winning mentality, no matter who we’re up against. We’re going to try to play our way and try to beat them.” .

“We finished first in the group and I think we deserve a little respect. I think Spain know that and they should be a little afraid of us. And why can’t we surprise again?”

Morocco secured their place in the round of 16 with a 2-0 win over Belgium in the first round, and then defeated Canada to top Group F, with Croatia in second place.