After 36 years, Moroccan soccer has once again stepped into the last 16 of the World Cup, and the outstanding contribution of Chelsea's striker Xueyeji should not be overlooked. The 29-year-old star, who has been in the eye of the public opinion, resolutely gave up his Dutch citizenship and chose to represent Morocco. Although he was once removed from the list due to his disagreement with the coach, he has finally achieved the right result in this World Cup and is expected to lead the national team to the best result in history.
A descendant of immigrants, Schoeljic was born in the Netherlands and trained professionally at the Ajax youth camp, where he played for the Dutch U20 and U21 national teams. As an adult, he chose between representing the Netherlands and Morocco. He says: "The choice of the national team was not based on rational thought, but came from the heart. Although I was born in the Netherlands, deep down I am a Moroccan, and I know that many people can't understand this kind of emotion.
In 2015, Xueyeji became a member of the Moroccan national team and participated in the 2017 Afcon qualifiers, only to fall out of the final week. Fortunately, he made the cut for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. However, in 2021, he was removed from the squad by then leader Charly Hossie due to attitude issues, missing out on the opportunity to play in the Afcon earlier in the year.
Faced with the decision to remove him from the national team, Scherzinger announced his withdrawal from the national team and refused to play in the remaining tournaments outside of the World Cup, leaving the national team in a difficult situation for a while. In the end, Charlier Hossain was sacked and Xueyeji was able to return to the national team in time for this year's World Cup campaign. Morocco's best result in the history of the World Cup was to reach the round of 16 in 1986, and this year's World Cup, Morocco has already equaled this record. If they can beat Spain to reach the last 8, Morocco will make history.
