Hakimi: With Morocco I feel like I matter, in PSG I often just run and don't get the ball

Two years ago, Achraf Hakimi was one of the footballers most responsible for the Serie A 2020/21 title won by Inter Milan. Constant eulogies about the Moroccan, constant talk about the best right (wing) back on the planet and a player of the kind that is very difficult to make, let alone find in modern football.

And then came the transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021, worth 68,000,000 euros and merging with a constellation of stars in the shadow of which his dominance on the entire right side is largely masked. And that's why it's an understatement to say that the former Real Madrid player enjoys his adventure in Qatar. His Morocco is one of the most pleasant surprises of the group stage, and Hakimi is one of the better individuals of the first round of the World Cup.

The Moroccan who outclassed Modric and De Bruyne has Spain in his sights

"In Paris I am surrounded by great footballers as in the national team, but with Morocco, I have a much more significant role in the game. I am in contact with the ball much more often, I feel that I am doing important things. In Paris it is different. Sometimes I run and in the end I do not get the ball."

"Here, my teammates try to find me. They know how much I can contribute offensively and defensively and they give me confidence, which I try to give back to them," said Hakimi.

At the age of 24, Hakimi already has 57 appearances for the Atlas Lions and eight goals and assists each, and it is he who could be one of the main drivers of Morocco against Spain in a historic campaign to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.