West Ham United: Morocco manager Walid Regragui reveals injury was not reason behind Nayef Aguerd withdrawal
Nayef Aguerd was set to start for Morocco against France on Wednesday night, but the West Ham star was swapped out last minute.
Morocco fell to a 2-0 defeat against France as they crashed out of the World Cup, and Walid Regragui was forced to play without star centre-back Aguerd.
The 26-year-old suffered a thigh injury against Spain in the round of 16, forcing him to miss the quarter-final clash against Portugal.
Eyebrows were raised when Aguerd was named in the starting lineup on Wednesday night against France, but the West Ham summer signing failed to even make it to kick-off.
Just moments before the start of the match Regragui was forced to swap Aguerd out for Achraf Dari – but it wasn’t because of his thigh injury.
“Nayef was recovering from flu and wanted to play as well, I thought it was best to play with three defenders so they didn’t have too much to run at,” Regragrui said after the full-time whistle, as quoted by The Independent.
“I have no regrets about the decision. Nayef’s absence was difficult and all of these little things meant we got off to quite a poor start.”
Relief
Every West Ham fan would have been sweating after seeing Aguerd named in the starting XI. While it was a shame to see him miss out on such a crucial match for his nation, it’s also a relief that he didn’t aggravate his injury.
Aguerd has enjoyed a magnificent World Cup campaign in Qatar and can hopefully bring his momentum and confidence back to east London for the second half of the season.
He has so far struggled to really settle in with the Hammers but he proved for Morocco this winter that he can be one of the world’s best centre-backs.
But keeping him fit will be key. He missed the start of the season through injury and it’d be a real shame to see him sidelined again after such a promising run of form.
Thankfully it seems Aguerd’s thigh injury wasn’t too severe and he was willing to play on Wednesday night but for an inconvenient flu.
With his Qatar campaign now all over, Aguerd will be allowed a period of rest and relaxation before he returns to the fold for West Ham.