Portrait
World Cup 2022: Romain Saïss, the Moroccan big brother
Romain Saïss celebrates his goal against Belgium in Qatar, November 27, 2022. AFP - MANAN VATSYAYANA
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 mins
At 32, defender Romain Saïss has made the World Cup the goal of his season.
The former Wolverhampton player, captain of the Moroccan team, brings serenity to a young group, he who had his first cape in 2012. Tuesday, December 6, he faces Spain in the round of 16, a phase that Morocco had not reached since 1986.
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From our special envoy to Qatar,
Beginning his life as a footballer in a national championship and ending up at the World Cup in Qatar in the round of 16, thirty-six years after the last feat of
the Atlas Lions
.
Romain Saïss has already succeeded in his World Cup in Qatar.
Born in the Drôme, in the south-east of France, from a Moroccan father and a French mother, the captain of Morocco has been on the bridge for ten years in selection.
His first cap, he owes it to Rachid Taoussi, in November 2012, as part of a friendly match between
Morocco
and Togo on November 14, 2012 in Casablanca (defeat, 0-1).
But he will not be called for the CAN meeting in South Africa in 2013.
Four years without the Atlas Lions
Romain Saïss will have to chew his brakes four years before returning to the selection in 2016, under the leadership of Frenchman Hervé Renard, for the CAN 2017 qualifiers in Gabon, where he will form the central hinge with Mehdi Benatia.
Today, the former Wolverhampton player can savor this meeting in Qatar, until he licks his fingers.
He had already traveled to Russia at the 2018 World Cup. And during the CAN 2019 in Egypt and 2021 in Cameroon.
“
It's exceptional to be with your country.
Emotions are heightened.
We are proud and we don't want to stop on such a good path
,” Romain Saïss told us after the victory against Canada.
"
The first round was intense, we still played the finalist and the semi-finalist of 2018 (
Craotia and Belgium)", he admits.
Here he is in good shape to suffer mentally against the Spaniards.
If the 86 generation marked Moroccan football, Saïss, scorer against
Belgium
, wants to "
do better
" to prolong his "
happiness
" and that of the group.
Water has flowed under the bridge for the former amateur of AS Valence, who at the time was washing dishes in his father's restaurant to earn some money.
This Sergio Busquets fan, who has "
always been a source of inspiration
" for him, will find himself facing his Spanish idol.
A first pro contract late
Romain Saïss, who studied business while playing as an amateur, signed his first professional contract in February 2012 at Clermont Foot (Ligue 2), a few weeks before his twenty-second birthday.
He was then transferred to Le Havre, where he played in midfield alongside Algerian international Riyad Mahrez.
While Mahrez goes to Leicester, Saïss joins Angers in the French elite.
His performances eventually convinced the Wolverhampton club to pay around £3million to sign him, in August 2016.
"
I've always stayed focused, although when you hit 21 and you're still a fan, you know it's getting less likely for you
," he told Britain
's The Guardian
newspaper .
And to add: “
But I knew that there were other players who had broken through late, like Franck Ribéry who, like me, never even went to an academy.
So I continued to work
”.
Of a calm, discreet nature, Romain Saïss made Wolverhampton supporters happy, which he left at the end of the 2021-2022 financial year for Beşiktaş JK in Turkey, after playing 206 games in six seasons, and registered fifteen goals including nine in the Premier League.
“
He is important in the life of the group.
It's a great adventure for him.
When he was selected in 2012, I was an assistant
, ”says Moroccan coach Walid Regragui about him.
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