da cassino online： The Morocco international was one of the stars of the 2022 World Cup – and his aggressive game is ideally suited to English football
da esport bet： When Sofyan Amrabat was a kid, he would leave for school in his native Huizen at eight in the morning and return home from training at the Utrecht academy at eight in the evening. They were, as he later admitted, "heavy days". But Amrabat never deemed such a gruelling schedule unfair. As far as he was concerned, it was a wholly necessary sacrifice.
Indeed, before taking the bus back from Utrecht everyday, he would stare at the Stadion Galgenwaard and remind himself what he was working towards. "I was tired but I knew why I was doing it: I wanted to reach my dream," Amrabat told Fiorentina's official website in 2021, "And I knew, even as a child, that it's really important to work for it."
As a practising Muslim, Amrabat believes that "everything is written", but that nothing happens by chance – or without hard graft. Which helps explain why he can often be found in the gym on days off. During the pandemic-enforced suspension of play all around the world, Amrabat never stopped training at home. In May of 2021, meanwhile, a video surfaced of him working out while on a trip to Riyadh – in 40-degree heat.
Getty'Football is a way of life'
He has also admitted himself that he didn't have many friends growing up, so determined was he to realise his goal, and he's most definitely not one for succumbing to the trappings of a footballer's fame.
"Everybody likes the good life," he says, "but my only interest is football – I work every day for myself, for my career, to help my team, to help the club. Football for me is a way of life. It’s not just a matter of training and that’s it.
"I return home, I recover, I eat properly. Every day you’re asking the maximum from your body, so you have to prepare your body for that and recover. For me, it’s easy to make sacrifices because I know what I want."
And what Amrabat wanted after last year's World Cup was to play for one of Europe's biggest clubs. As far as he was concerned, he'd earned that opportunity and, in truth, it was difficult to disagree.
AdvertisementGetty/GOALBest midfielder at Qatar 2022
Amrabat was outstanding in Qatar, the tournament's best midfielder, the driving force behind Morocco's historic run to the semi-finals. Stationed just in front of the back four, Amrabat proved a one-man wall by repelling one opposition attack after another. No player at the World Cup won possession more times (57).
And it's not as if he was pitted against poor-quality opponents. Morocco kept clean sheets against Croatia, Spain and Portugal. In the shock win over the latter, he repeatedly nicked the ball before surging past would-be challengers with impressive ease and then releasing the likes of Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech.
His performance against Spain, though, was even more heroic – because Amrabat had barely slept the night before. He had been up until 3am receiving treatment on a back problem. Even at that, he had to take a pain-killing injection beforehand – and yet played all 120 minutes as Morocco prevailed on penalties.
"I’m not usually emotional," a tearful Amrabat said after the match, "but today was incredibly tough. There was a question mark over whether I could play this game. But I couldn't abandon my team-mates or my country."
Getty'Shaken up' by collapse of Barca move
Such a mix of quality and heroism was never going to go unnoticed and Amrabat’s agent started receiving calls from interested clubs before the World Cup had even concluded. A January transfer appeared inevitable, with Liverpool, Tottenham, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona all interested.
It was the latter who pushed hardest and Amrabat was enamoured with the idea of moving to Camp Nou. However, the cash-strapped Catalans only offered Fiorentina a loan deal with an option to buy – which meant Amrabat ended up staying at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
He did not take the collapse of the proposed transfer well at all, with coach Vincenzo Italiano admitting that the 26-year-old had been “shaken up by what happened”. Amrabat apologised for his actions and was welcomed back into the Viola squad with open arms, but during his first few appearances after the close of the January transfer window, it was clear that he still wasn’t right, mentally.
It was only towards the business end of the season that Amrabat began to look like his old self on the field again, playing a key role in Fiorentina reaching the final of the Europa Conference League.
Getty'He wants to go to do the top'
The heart-breaking nature of the undeserved loss to West Ham in Prague devastated Amrabat, who promptly posted a message on social media thanking the fans for their support – but the message also read like a goodbye letter.
It was clear that he still wanted out – and not just for any old club. “He wants to go to the top,” his brother, Nordin, told . "You are not going to trade Italy for the middle bracket of the Premier League. At Barcelona, he is high on the list, but you know Barca’s financial situation…”
Indeed, nothing had changed at Camp Nou from an economic perspective, which is why they ended up having to instead sign Oriol Romeu.