Abdellah Ouazane has definitively chosen an international career with Morocco, Algemeen Dagblad reports. 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.
Ouazane has played youth internationals for both the Netherlands and Morocco. According to a reconstruction by AD, choosing the World Cup quarter-finalists was not easy.
"It was a matter of weighing things up, a lot of thinking, with him ultimately following his heart. It was not Morocco's methodical approach but his feelings that proved decisive, according to those around him, which did not mean he did not have a good feeling about the Netherlands," the newspaper analyses the Ajax player's decision to choose Morocco.
In 2023, Ouazane made his youth international debut for Morocco. More matches followed. "Our plan with Appie worked out well," said Chris van Puyvelde, former technical director of the Moroccan football federation.
"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 period 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 often called me with questions as well," said the former technical director of the Moroccan football federation.
Now Ouazane is focusing on Morocco and Ajax's first team, where he appears to be getting a fair chance from Míchel. A year ago he seemed to be on his way to Real Madrid, but that transfer collapsed at the last moment.