Fortune favors the brave. Just ask Achraf Hakimi.
After Morocco and Spain went 120 minutes without a goal in the 2022 World Cup in the round of 16, the Paris Saint-Germain defender was called upon to take a penalty, a strike that could rewrite Moroccan football history.
With the nation’s nerves – and neutrals – on edge, Hakimi stepped up, leaned to the left, fouled Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon, and sent Panenka over for a shot.
It was a legendary legend that elevated the world’s top career into a timeless Moroccan lore.
An interesting but difficult development for Hakimi
For Madrid-born Hakimi, the road to the top has been long, winding and difficult.
He was named as a star prospect from a very young age and was scouted by Real Madrid. But even though Hakimi joined Europe’s most successful club at the age of eight, he had to scratch and push for everything he could do.
Like 800,000 others, Hakimi is part of the Moroccan community in Spain. He grew up in a low-income family in the city of Madrid in Getafe. A daily trip to Real Madrid’s Castilla school showed him a high life, but he still describes his childhood as “happy” with “hard times”.
“My mother worked as a cleaner and my father sold things on the streets,” he said on the Spanish TV program El Chiringuito. They gave their lives for me. He took a lot of things from my brothers to make things better. Today, I play with them. “
It was during this period that the young Hakimi began to perform in the UEFA Youth League which made him famous.
It was also during this time that he caught the eye of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.
Because the Moroccan diaspora in Europe is very large, there is talent in Spain, Belgium, France and the Netherlands that the Federation works with scouts to identify and guarantee to play in Morocco.
“We scouted Achraf Hakimi while he was playing for Real Madrid’s U17 team.” Nasser Larguet, former technical director of the Federation, told FourFourTwo magazine in 2018.
“He was always in touch with our scouts, asking when our training games or games were. I personally promised him that if he continues to work as he does, he will soon join the national team.
Indeed, Hakimi made his debut for the country in 2016 at the age of 18, citing regrettable reasons for the decision. Although he was attracted to the idea of playing in Spain and made a few appearances for the Spanish youth team, Hakimi did not feel like he fit in with La Roja.
“My culture is Moroccan. At home, we talked and ate Moroccan and I am a practicing Muslim. To be honest, I didn’t have to think too much about it,” he said in an interview with L’Equipe magazine. “I used to watch Moroccan matches with my father who always told me about the famous players of the past.”
In 2017, when he was ready to enter the big league, Real Madrid was in the midst of a historic run in the UEFA Champions League that would help them win three titles in a row.
Under the guidance of Zinedine Zidane, he played nine La Liga games and scored two goals, and it was enough to secure the national team’s place in the 2018 World Cup.
The tournament in Russia was disappointing for Hakimi and the Atlas Lions. Despite playing Spain, Portugal and Iran, the side were eliminated from the group stage.
With the World Cup under his belt, Hakimi was ready to improve his career and strengthen the starting line-up at Real Madrid.
Disappointingly, the club sent him on a two-year loan to Borussia Dortmund. Pushed to prove he was good enough, Hakimi took the Bundesliga by storm, scoring 12 goals and providing 17 assists in 73 games over two years.
Real Madrid still refused to call for his services.
The constant rejection pushed him to Italy and Inter Milan, the club he joined in 2020 and where he became a key part of Antonio Conté’s team that brought back the scudetto to the blue and black side of the city for the first time at the end. ten years.
Finally, in 2021, after a long and difficult journey, Hakimi was recognized for his talent when he moved to French champions PSG for $83m.
It may sound strange to say that the 24-year-old is the real leader of the national team, but Hakimi’s excellent performances have been one of the few things that Moroccan fans can appreciate in the last three years.
After players like Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui clashed with former managers, Hakimi’s performances were always beyond reproach. Former Morocco manager Vahid Halilhodzic, from Bosnia, used him as a measuring stick for what would happen in the regular press conference.
“Hakimi’s fat percentage is 7 percent, while other Moroccan players who play in the domestic league have a fat percentage that varies between 13 and 16 percent,” said Halilhodzic.
When the North Africans struggled to find goals at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, it was Hakimi – a defender – who stepped up and fought back, doubling his lungs running down the field and scoring two important goals.
His unfailing ability to step up when the team needs him has become a habit for the Moroccan faithful. That’s why no one was surprised to see him take a crucial penalty in Spain on Tuesday evening.
And that’s why he will be relied on again, to raise his game and help take Morocco to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
