| |  Morocco Home Page | | | | Moroccan-born Afellay goes Dutch |  Afellay's parents are Moroccan
Ibrahim Afellay has decided to play for the Netherlands instead of Morocco at international level.
The 20-year-old PSV Eindhoven midfielder had deliberated for months over which team to represent and paid 'deep respect' to Morocco for its invitation.
"It was very flattering," Afellay said in a statement on Friday.
"Nevertheless, I consider the choice to play for the Netherlands in the future to be the right one.
"Playing for the Netherlands or Morocco would be an honour for me (but) playing for the Dutch team will also be good for my development as a player at PSV."
Holland coach Marco van Basten welcomed the decision taken by Afellay, whose parents are Moroccan.
"While he was born and raised in the Netherlands, I know that in his heart he has close links to Morocco and the Moroccan community," Van Basten said.
"I'm pleased Ibrahim has said he wants to play for the Netherlands in the future.
"He's a good footballer with many qualities who, if he continues to develop the way he is at PSV at the moment, will probably play an important role for the Netherlands in the coming years."
Afellay has injured his groin so will miss Holland's friendly against Russia in Amsterdam on 7 February.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | Boussoufa, best in Belgium |  Morocco's Mbark Boussoufa of Anderlecht won Belgium's player of the year award on Wednesday.
He finished ahead of his team-mates Mohammed Tchite of Congo and Nicolas Frutos of Argentina.
Argentine Lucas Biglia, who joined Anderlecht for the new season in August, gave the Brussels club a sweep of the top four finishers.
In a poll of journalists, coaches and former players, 22-year-old playmaker Boussoufa totaled 283 points, 82 ahead of striker Tchite.
Frutos, a forward who was often injured during the year, received 111 points in the vote and Biglia finished with 74.
Boussoufa won most of his points in the first half of the year, when he was still playing for Ghent.
"The main thing I want to do now is lead Anderlecht to the title," he said.
Last year's winner Sergio Conceicao of Standard did not finish in the top 10.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | | Starlet shuns Germany |  Cologne's teenage sensation Adil Chihi has informed the German Football Association that he will no longer be available for selection as he has decided to play for Morocco instead.
The 18-year-old, who grew up in Germany but with Moroccan parents, had initially stressed his desire to play for Germany's Under-19s, but he seems to have changed his mind after a discussion with the Moroccan ambassador.
"I am really disappointed as I believe that it would have been in his best interests to play with us," said DFB youth coach Frank Engel.
The in-form youngster is one of the revelations of the current Bundesliga 2 campaign and his goal helped the Goats to a sensational 4-2 home win over Schalke 04 in the second round of the DFB Cup.
Chihi is currently linked with several Bundesliga clubs including Schalke, Stuttgart and Hamburg and it is expected that he will leave the Rheinenergie-Stadium should Hans-Peter Latour's team fail to win back their place in the Bundesliga next summer.
SOURCE: skysports.com |
| | | | Caf delays FAR Rabat action |  The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has deferred possible sanctions against Morocco team FAR Rabat to February.
African football's governing body has referred the club's attack on match officials at the end of last month's African Confederation Cup finals to its disciplinary committee.
Caf officials say no action had yet been taken after the attack on referee Daniel Bennett and assistant Toko Malebo at the end of the final in Sousse, Tunisia last month
Both officials were manhandled after disallowing a late goal by the Moroccans that would have handed them a last-gasp win.
The match finished goalless, handing Tunisia's Etoile Sahel victory on away goals after a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the final in Rabat in November.
Caf's emergency committee met in Cairo last month a week after the final but referred any possible sanctions to the disciplinary committee, who will meet in Khartoum on 7 February.
SOURCE: BBC Sport | | Holders Royal Armed Forces advance to final in Africa | Morocco's Royal Armed Forces booked a berth in the final of the African Confederation Cup with a 2-1 win over Petro Atletico of Angola on Saturday.
The army club finished three points ahead of their compatriots Olympique Khourigba in the Group A standings and will meet Etoile Sahel of Tunisia in next month's final.
Royal Armed Forces, seeking a successful defence of the title they won last year, took a 22nd minute lead through Jaouad Ouaddouch and then made sure of their triumph with a goal midway through the second half from captain Mounir Benkassou. Petro, who had to garner an away win to stand any chance of taking top place in the standings, scored a consolation goal in the 79th minute through Angolan international Chinho.
Khourigba would have secured top place in the Group A had they won but were beaten 1-0 by InterClube of Angola in Luanda, also on Saturday.
Pedro scored the only goal for the Angolan police team, who secured their first points of the group campaign but still finished bottom of the standings. The goal was scored in the 79th minute.
In Group B, Etoile Sahel completed a 100 percent passage through the group phase by beating Renacimiento of Equatorial Guinea 4-1 in Sousse, including two goals for Cape Verdian import Gilson.
Etoile had already secured their final berth after the completion of the penultimate round of the league phase a fortnight ago.
SOURCE: Yahoo! Sports |
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