FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Africa Cup of Nations 2019 - Round of 16 - Morocco v Benin - Al Salam Stadium, Cairo, Egypt - July 5, 2019 Morocco's Hakim Ziyech looks dejected REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
(Reuters) - Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech has been recalled to the squad for friendlies against Chile and Paraguay by new coach Walid Regragui, potentially ending a 15-month absence from the team and a timely boost for the country ahead of the World Cup.
The 29-year-old Chelsea player, a talismanic figure for the national side, could feature against Chile in Barcelona on Sept. 23 and Paraguay in Seville four days later in their first matches under Regragui.
Ziyech fell out with former coach Vahid Halilhodzic, who was fired in August after months of tension with the football federation over player selection and, in particular, his frosty relationship with the forward.
Last year Halilhodzic accused Ziyech of feigning injury to skip mid-year friendly matches and left him out of the World Cup qualifying campaign and the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Ziyech then refused to play under the coach but having won the battle of wills is now back in the fold.
There is also a return to the squad for Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui, who has not played for Morocco since October 2020 after also falling out with Halilhodzic.
Uncapped former Germany Under-21 midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri has also been called up, along with Italian-born Bari forward Walid Cheddira.
Morocco have been drawn in Group F at the World Cup with Belgium, Canada and Croatia.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Munir El Kajoui, Anis Zniti, Reda Tagnaouti
Defenders: Romain Saiss, Samy Mmaee, Jawad El Yamiq, Achraf Dari, Badr Benoun, Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Yahia Attiyat Allah
Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat, Yahya Jabrane, Azeddine Ounahi, Selim Amallah, Younes Belhanda, Amine Harit, Ilias Chair, Abdelhamid Sabiri
Forwards: Hakim Ziyech, Munir El Haddadi, Soufiane Rahimi, Abde Ezzalzouli, Zakaria Aboukhlal, Sofiane Boufal, Ryan Mnaee, Youssef En-Nesyri, Walid Cheddira
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)
