Hakim Ziyech has detailed Morocco's big dreams for the World Cup after the Chelsea winger helped his country produce a surprise 2-0 victory over Belgium.
Sunday afternoon saw one of the favourites for the tournament beaten at the hands of Ziyech and Morocco. Romain Saiss, formerly of Wolves, put the Africans in the lead in the first-half of the match before Ziyech provided a great assist to set up Zakaria Aboukhlal in stoppage time to double their advantage.
Morocco are now second in Group F, with Croatia, who beat Canada in the later game, top of the standings with one game remaining in the group stage. Ziyech, who has struggled for game time at Chelsea this season so far, has now warned the rest of the tournament to not underestimate his country.
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"How we grew up, we always maintained that Moroccan culture," Ziyech said. "To play for the country and reach the World Cup, it really made my parents and my family proud.
"Every kid around the world dreams of playing in the World Cup. You grow up watching these amazing games and looking at the best players around the world playing in this competition, so to be here is a fantastic feeling.
"We've achieved so much to be here but we still want to push on. We take things game by game but of course, you have to think big if you want to achieve something.
"We know that we are the underdog in most games but people shouldn't underestimate us because we have a strong squad and we have shown that."
Ziyech has less than three years remaining on his contract at Chelsea and speculation over his future continues to grow. Over the summer transfer window, the 29-year-old was determined to leave Stamford Bridge, football.london understands, but he was kept following the departures of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku.
Ajax and AC Milan both expressed a keen interest in the Morocco international over the summer, but neither made a full-blown effort to bring him in. That could change when the January transfer window opens in just over a month, though.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) are reporting that Milan could come back in for Ziyech in January. According to the report, the Rossoneri are considering a six-month loan offer with a €15million (£12.9million) option to buy.
Graham Potter clearly doesn't see Ziyech as part of his plans at Chelsea this season. Since the former Brighton head coach was appointed at Stamford Bridge, the winger has featured just three times, accumulating a total of 32 minutes, in the Premier League.
With such a lack of football, it's hardly a surprise that Ziyech is considering his options. When asked by NOS recently whether a return to the Netherlands could be on the cards in the winter transfer window, Ziyech refused to rule anything out.
"It's hard to say, difficult to say," he explained. "We don't know what will happen in the winter. It's football, so it's difficult to say."
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