Abdellah Ouazane has definitively chosen an international career with Morocco, Algemeen Dagblad report. The 17-year-old midfielder has played youth internationals for the Netherlands, but does not see the senior Dutch national team as his ultimate goal.
The midfielder represented both the Netherlands and Morocco at youth level. Choosing the World Cup quarter-finalists was not easy, according to a reconstruction by AD.
“It was a matter of weighing things up, a lot of thinking, after which he ultimately followed his heart. Not Morocco’s methodical approach, but his feelings were decisive, according to his entourage, which did not mean he did not have a good feeling about the Netherlands,” the newspaper analyse the Ajax player’s choice for Morocco.
Back in 2023, Ouazane first played a youth international for Morocco. More matches followed. “Our plan with Appie worked out well,” said Chris van Puyvelde, former technical director of the Moroccan football association.
“It was part of the new policy to look much more at the diaspora,” reveals the Belgian official, who worked in Morocco between 2022 and 2025. During that spell, he had a great deal of contact with the Ajax talent and his family.
“For example, I had a lot of contact with his mother. Mothers have carried a child for nine months, and have different concerns from fathers, who often want to talk about football. Mothers want to know: will my child end up in the right place? She also often called me with questions,” said the former technical director of the Moroccan football association.
Now Ouazane is focusing on Morocco and Ajax’s first team, where he appears to be getting a fair chance from MÃchel. A year ago, he seemed to be on his way to Real Madrid, but that transfer collapsed at the last moment.