Salim El Jebari chooses Morocco and rejects Spain

On Feb 24, 2023

Salim El Jebari, the talented striker of Los Rojiblancos, has decided to play for the Atlas Lions at the expense of La Roja. He is expected to meet with Moroccan national team coach Walid Regragui later this week.

The young footballer had been called up by the Spanish U-19 team for the two friendly matches against Norway, but approached the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to withdraw from the call-up.

🚨 Salim El Jebari (19 ans) a refusé l’invitation de l’Espagne pour jouer avec eux et veut représenter pour le Maroc ! 🇲🇦🦁 pic.twitter.com/vbPUgp2Hcu

— 🏆 Actu Foot Afrique (@ActuFootAfrique) February 22, 2023

The reason is that Salim decided to play for Morocco, the country of his parents’ birth and of which he is a national, following the example of other footballers who have made the same decision, such as Achraf Hakimi of PSG or Munir El Haddadi, now at Getafe and who has even become an A international with Spain.

Informed sources told Hesport that coach Regragui has set an appointment to meet the Rojiblancos striker later this week, after being convinced of his technical abilities. It is expected that the player will gain the confidence of the Moroccan coach in the coming period, thus becoming one of the pioneers of the “Atlas Lions” offensive line.

According to the same sources, Salim El Jebari informed the RFEF of his decision, a few days ago, after the coach of the Spanish U19 national team invited him to participate in two friendly matches against Norway, affirming the choice of his home country.

The same sources revealed that Moussa El Habchi, in charge of analysing performances within the technical staff of the first national team, met this week with three Moroccan talents in Belgium, mandated by Regragui, with a view to summoning them to the next preparatory camp. These include defenders Ismael Kandouss and Mehdi Boukamir, professionals at Union Saint-Gilloise and Charleroi SC.