Ismael Saibari is now one of Abdelhak Nouri’s closest friends. Yet the two Moroccans did not know each other at all before the Ajax player suffered a serious medical emergency in 2017. The Moroccan international recounts how an unexpected relationship gradually developed between their two families.
A Bundesliga hat-trick, a Ligue 1 brace and three assists: the Moroccans got their European season off to a flying start. Younes Ebnoutalib, Gessime Yassine, Ismaël Saibari and Amine El Ouazzani delivered the weekend’s standout performances.
Before Rennes, Basel and the Morocco national team, Ibrahim Salah went through two years without a club . At 24, the new Antwerp winger recounts a path very different from those of his friends Ismael Saibari and Bilal El Khannouss.
As the France-Morocco quarter-final takes place this Thursday, July 9, Moroccan supporters have taken over downtown Boston. Between chants, flags and displayed confidence, one concern keeps resurfacing: the refereeing, with the vivid memory of 2022 still fresh.
Ismael Saibari will not play in the quarter-final of the World Cup against France on Thursday evening. Injured in the thigh, the Moroccan striker misses a major appointment, but Soufiane Rahimi appears as a credible solution.
After the 3-0 thrashing of Canada, Opta statistics tell a colder story than post-match declarations. Morocco didn’t create a flood of chances, but struck with ruthless efficiency, driven by Ounahi, Bounou and Rahimi.
Before Canada-Morocco, Ismael Saibari shared an intimate testimony about his childhood. The Moroccan attacking midfielder recounted the physical difficulties he faced as a young child, but especially the decisive role played by his mother in helping him walk and then realize his dream of becoming a footballer.
Canada has discovered the heights of a World Cup, but its next obstacle looks like a wall. Before facing Morocco, Jesse Marsch has not hidden his admiration mixed with concern facing the Atlas Lions, whom he judges formidable.
Ismael Saibari joins Bayern Munich with a powerful symbol. The Lion of the Atlas will wear the number 34 in tribute to Abdelhak Nouri , his friend, who suffered a serious medical emergency in 2017 while playing for Ajax.
Recruited for an almost symbolic sum in 2020, Ismael Saibari is leaving PSV Eindhoven for Bayern Munich in a transfer that could reach €55 million . A spectacular rise for the Moroccan international, who has become one of the Dutch club’s greatest sporting and financial coups.
Lamine Yamal fully assumes his choice to wear Spain’s jersey rather than Morocco’s. But the young Barcelona striker keeps a close eye on the Atlas Lions, whom he follows closely in this World Cup.
Morocco did not merely secure qualification against the Netherlands. For the BBC, the Atlas Lions have confirmed their new status in world football, following a match they controlled for long periods before winning on penalties.