Moroccan footballer, born in the Netherlands in 1993, and chose to play for the Atlas Lions.

His father died at an early age and he suffered in his childhood, before finding his way to brilliance after his mother's desperation and the advice and help of his first coach.

Hakim Ziyech - who is called the "Moroccan magician" - played football in the streets, and there he discovered his talent early.

Then he started his sports career in 2001 through the Dutch club "Real Dronten".

He was included in many teams there, until he moved to “Ajax Amsterdam” in 2016, then the English “Chelsea”, who has been playing in its ranks since July 2020.

The 29-year-old lived a difficult childhood after his father's death, and in adolescence he turned to drug addiction.

Then he overcame difficult crises in his life, and became a star, and one of the best players in his position in Europe.

The owner of the distinguished left foot was called the "Moroccan Jewel" and was classified as the best Arab playmaker, but he said, "I am not the biggest star, I just do my job on the field and try to do the best for my country."

The spaghetti lover has no pre-match ritual, just wears earplugs to keep himself cool.

And when the Moroccan national anthem is played, he "looks down, tries to be focused and senses the screams coming from the audience," according to one of his statements.

After the crises he experienced, the Qatar World Cup is the window through which "Ziyash" stormed the football scene again.

And that was after he caught the eye in "Doha" with his combative game, and with his elaborate and decisive passes.

Hakim Ziyech in one of the training sessions for the Moroccan national team at Al-Duhail Stadium in Doha during the 2022 World Cup (Reuters)

Birth and upbringing

Hakim Ziyech was born into a poor family on March 19, 1993 in the town of "Dronten" in the Netherlands.

He was the youngest of his nine siblings, of Moroccan parents, who hailed from the town of Tafogalt, on the outskirts of the city of Berkane, in eastern Morocco. They had immigrated to the Netherlands in 1967, in search of better living conditions.

Ziash holds Dutch and Moroccan nationality, and speaks Arabic, French, Dutch and English.

He is known for a few interests and hobbies, one of which is playing billiards, and he is known to rush to sleep whenever he feels the need to de-stress.

He also greatly appreciates that his sister is his biggest fan in his family, and he owes credit to his mother, who stood when he won the best player award in the Dutch League, in the center of the concert hall, and said about her, "This is my mother, she is the real hero, not me..she is everything to me, And if it were not for her, I would not have stood before you today, so please salute her, because she is the one who led me here to stand before you.”

A rough childhood and addiction

At the age of ten, Hakim Ziyash suffered a psychological crisis, after the death of his father, Muhammad Ziyash, due to multiple sclerosis on December 23, 2003. He recounted about that moment, saying, "I wanted to stay with him and did not go to bed until midnight," and "after hours A few woke up and heard my family crying and went downstairs, where my father was dead."

His mother was battling to support the family with family benefits and an unemployment grant.

Their suffering continued when two of his brothers were imprisoned for theft and assault.

While Hakim was the hope of the family, he was affected by the early death of his father on his behavior negatively, as he stumbled in his studies, stopped playing football at the age of 12, and became aggressive and addicted to drugs and alcohol in a way that almost destroyed his life, and ended his football career early.

The Moroccan star and his former coach, "Aziz Dovikar", was the one who succeeded in extracting him from addiction, and Hakim Ziyash considers him as his surrogate father, and he credits that suffering for what he has reached now.

Hakim Ziyech starred with English club Chelsea and before that with Ajax Amsterdam (Reuters)

Early love for football

At the age of five, Ziyech's football talent appeared when he was playing with his brothers in the streets.

Cruyff Court witnessed the matches between the people of the neighborhood.

He said about that period, "I was playing the ball against those who are older than me, and they do not accept losing, but rather keep kicking you. Those things make you more solid and give you a mentality that helps you face difficulties in the future."

And he recounted in press interviews that he used his left foot for the first time to kick friends who were fighting with his older brother, called "Fawzi", as a joke, and he intervened, believing that they had a problem, so he went towards them and beat them to protect his brother.

His brother discovered that his future was in football, so he brought a ball and said to him, "Take her and make her your friend."

At the age of seven, Ziyech's football career began when, in 2001, he joined a small club (Heerenveen Club) in the city (Real Dronton), which helped him develop his skills.

His two older brothers took care of him.

In his childhood, Hakim Ziyech was fond of French player Zinedine Zidane and Brazilian player Ronaldinho.

He was constantly watching their gaming videos on YouTube.

Hakim Ziyech during the Morocco and Croatia match in the Qatar World Cup 2022 (Reuters)

A tough football career

After Hakim's older brother got out of prison, he took on the role of a father to him and encouraged him to get back into playing football.

It had taken, he said, a lengthy conversation between them for a few hours.

His brother told him, "Listen, my friend, we've been working on this for 8 years now, and it's not going to stop."

He had initially had a difficult time at Heerenveen, under the guidance of then-coach Marco van Basten.

At that time, his brother had placed him under the care of an Armenian family, but his relationship with them was tense, which made him stay up late, and he turned to alcohol and drugs.

He was erratic in training and, at one point, had no respect for his teammates or coaches.

But Hakim Ziyech found care from coach Aziz Dovikar, who used to accompany him to one of the mini-football halls.

And he succeeded in bringing him back to the "Herenveen" club in 2007, and he began to gradually overcome his shock.

Thanks to the training, Ziyech, then 14, was able to provide a little bit of financial assistance to his family.

During his stay in the academy camp, "Ziyash" returned to drug use and troublemaking.

This affected his performance and reduced his chances of signing a professional contract, which delayed his joining the first team.

In 2010, his court cases amounted to 6 prosecutions.

Aziz Dovikar intervened again with advice and guidance, and "Ziyash" got another chance with the "Herenveen" club.

He was forced to leave school permanently at the age of 16, as he struggled to become a professional footballer, to help his mother support his family.

Hakim Ziyech was included in the age groups, until he joined the first team of "Heerenveen" in 2012, with the help of Aziz Dovikar.

This coincided with his departure from the home of the sponsoring family, and he lived with his agent, Mustafa Nakhil, in Amsterdam.

His first professional steps were in the Dutch League, where he managed to score 13 goals and provide 9 assists in 46 matches during two seasons with the club.

Ziyash praised the coach, "Alfred Schroeder", who persuaded him to join the club "Twente Enschede", which he moved to on August 18, 2014, and that was the beginning of his great brilliance, as he scored 34 goals in 76 games.

Hakim Ziyech is distinguished by his dribbling and accurate passes with his left foot (Reuters)

The Wizard of Amsterdam

At the age of 18, he signed a contract with “Ajax Amsterdam”, the giants of the Dutch championship, for 4.5 seasons, with a financial value of 11 million euros.

And the most successful period in his football career began, and at that time he saved his family from poverty, and he became one of the stars of the team.

The Moroccan star, who was dubbed by the Dutch as "The Wizard of Amsterdam", due to his high skill and outstanding performance, had played 165 matches in various competitions, during which he managed to score 48 goals and make 82 others.

He crowned the team with the league and cup double, then went up to the Champions League semi-finals, and scored 24 goals in all competitions.

Then the club bid farewell to its Moroccan star after the end of the Dutch football season was confirmed, due to the outbreak of the Corona epidemic (Covid-19), with the best player award, which he had won for the third time, and then moved to the English club Chelsea in July 2020, after he signed a contract for one year. 5 years for 40 million euros.

Ziyash, 29, participated with the "Blues" in 83 matches, during which he scored 14 goals and made 10. He will play only 5 Premier League matches this season, including only one match as a regular player.

Hakim Ziyash recently found interest from the Italian club, "Inter Milan", to sign with him in the winter transfer market next January.

Hakim Ziyech chose to play for the Moroccan national team and preferred it to the Dutch national team (Getty Images)

I want Morocco

Ziyech had played in the Netherlands Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 national teams.

He also participated with the Dutch national team in May 2015 in friendly matches against the United States of America and Latvia.

In September 2015, he confirmed the choice to represent Morocco internationally, and before that, the Dutch coach "Guess Hiddink" was in constant contact with him, just as Badou Zaki, the Moroccan coach at the time, was in extensive contact and meetings with him.

In the end he said "I want Morocco".

The most famous statement to justify his choice was when he said, "My blood is not orange to play for the Netherlands. My blood is red like the flag of Morocco."

This choice caused him to be targeted with racist expressions and hurled at him in the stadiums.

Former Netherlands striker Marco van Basten described his choice as "naive", and the Dutch coach at the time described him as "stupid" for choosing Morocco at the expense of the Netherlands.

He was subjected to great pressure by the Dutch press and officials.

And his response was, "There is nothing that makes me change my mind about playing for the Moroccan national team. I will not change Morocco with the Netherlands.. I did not choose the Moroccan national team because the Netherlands was late in summoning me, but rather I chose it because my heart dictated that to me."

He added, "My father is buried there and my family lives there, where I feel that I am inside my home and the blood flows in my veins in the colors of the homeland."

Thus, Ziyash participated in his first international match with the Moroccan national team on October 9, 2015, and on May 27, 2016, he scored his first two goals with Morocco, in the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, and led him to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while the Netherlands was absent. about the tournament.

Hakim Ziyech in the Ajax Amsterdam shirt in 2019 (Reuters)

exclusion period

Hakim Ziyech went through difficult periods with the Moroccan national team, as he was excluded from the national team's list in the 2017 African Cup finals in Gabon, due to disagreements with former Atlas Lions coach, French Hervé Renard.

Ziyash said after that, in a statement to the channel of his club, "Ajax Amsterdam", that he felt great sadness in the first days of the issuance of the decision to exclude him.

He added, "I wanted to defend the colors of my country, but, unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to do so. It is true that I was sad in the early days, but I was able to overcome it, and now I have great enthusiasm to work for the future."

Ziyash led the Atlas Lions to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he scored two goals out of 11 goals in the qualifiers, and after that he was removed from the national team’s squad for the 2021 African Cup finals in Cameroon, after disagreements with the former Bosnian coach “Waheed Halilhodzic”, who was comparing himself to the mountain that does not He collapses in his statements, and has confirmed more than once that he will not include “Ziyash” for the Moroccan national team, even on his neck.

In February 2022, the Moroccan international announced his retirement from playing with the national team.

He explained, "Things have become settled for me. I respect the coach's decision to dismiss me, but in the end I will not return to the national team. I understand the anger that Moroccans will feel about this decision, and I regret that, but the situation will be like this now."


The fact that Halilhodzic remained coach of the Lions meant that Ziyech's chance to participate in the Qatar World Cup ended.

Hakim Ziyech went through a period of emptiness during which he was marginalized in the Moroccan national team and in his team, Chelsea (Reuters)

Zyach return

"Ziyash" has been away from representing Morocco for about a year and a half, since his participation in the Morocco match against Central Africa in the African Nations qualifiers on November 17, 2020, during which he scored a goal and made another, and announced that he would not play again with the Moroccan national team.

Halilhodzic left by decision of the Moroccan Football Federation, with the growing anger over his technical choices in the African Cup finals in Cameroon, less than 3 months before the start of the Qatar World Cup.

And after the national coach, Walid Regragui, assumed the leadership of the Moroccan national team on August 31.

The Chelsea playmaker retracted his retirement and returned to the Atlas Lions squad.

He had expressed his happiness at returning to the national team, announcing his readiness.

He said, "We are now going through a different experience in the presence of a new technical staff that also carries new ideas."

The Moroccan fans chanted the name "Ziyash" during the friendly match against the Lions and the Chilean national team, at the "Cornela del Alprat" stadium in Barcelona.

As part of the Lions' preparations for the 2022 World Cup.

In Morocco's second friendly against Georgia, Ziyash scored a global goal with a 66-meter throw that landed directly in the goal.

And he succeeded in equalizing the number of the former Moroccan player, "Marouane Chamakh", as Morocco's fifth top scorer in history, with 18 goals.

Hakim Ziyash is one of the 9 players in the national team who joined the 2022 World Cup list, and they were in the last edition in Russia 2018, accompanied by coach Hervé Renard.

He has played 44 international matches for his country since 2015 until now.

Hakim Ziyech went through a difficult period in his childhood and his football career almost ended when he was a teenager (Getty Images)

another player

Lions coach Walid Al-Rakraki opened a new page with Ziyech, and he was re-integrated into the squad with which he left to Doha to participate in the 2022 Qatar World Cup finals.

And after the good performance and the valuable draw for the Lions against Croatia, and the historic victory against Belgium.

The Moroccan international's performance demonstrated the correctness of the fans' demands, which were calling for his return to strengthen the ranks of the Moroccan national team during the "Hililhozich" stage.

Regragui praised him in the press conference after the victory over Belgium, saying: "This player is amazing, with his return the spirit has returned to the ranks of the national team. Many people say about him that he is a crazy person and he cannot be managed and led with a group and he cannot help the team, but what I noticed personally is that when You give him love and trust he can die for you."

He continued, "He is a great player who plays for a big team in Europe, and as you can see, he has become another player with the Moroccan national team. What he needs is for the coaches to give him confidence on the basis that he is a star, and he is a star in the ranks of the Moroccan national team."

games maker

Ziyash is about 1.80 meters tall, and his weight ranges between 65 and 70 kilograms, as he has an ideal stature and weight to play football, and plays specifically in the midfield and attack positions.

He is famous for his left foot, which sends accurate passes, and is known for his tactical ability, free kicks, and maneuverability.

What distinguishes him as a playmaker is his simple touch, along with his distinctive skills and speed in penetration.

And the British newspaper “The Guardian” ranked him in the 2018/2019 season, at number 29 on its list of the 100 best footballers in the world.

The "owner of shirt 7" won the Man of the Match award against the Belgian national team, which was hosted by Al-Thumama Stadium on November 27, as part of the second round of Group Six competitions in the 2022 World Cup finals.

He was the one who won the most doubles in the match (9), and he is the most player who made the right dribbles (3).

He also made two chances. The second was achieved by Morocco's second goal, which was signed by his colleague Zakaria Abu Khalil.

Hakim Ziyech (center) with Moroccan players Nosair Mazraoui (right) and Zakaria Labeid (Getty Images)

Awards

Ziyech won many awards, including:

  • Best player award in the Morocco-Belgium match in the framework of the Qatar World Cup.

  • Player of the Year Award in the Netherlands in 2018.

  • Award for the best passer in the Dutch league for seasons (2014-2015) / (2016-2017) / (2018-2019).

  • Best Moroccan player award in 2016.

  • Ajax World Player Award 2017-2018 season.

  • Ambassador for the Drontense SOE project, helping troubled youth.