Many among the Moroccan public are reportedly baffled by manager Walid Regragui's decision to leave Mamelodi Sundowns star Abdelmounaim Boutouil out of his provisional Africa Cup of Nations squad.
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The central defender has seemingly found his feet at the home of DStv Premiership champions this season, with the 25-year-old having established him as a regular starter under Rulani Mokwena.
All of the Moroccan's appearances have been from the start of matches and given the early season success the club has enjoyed, the physically imposing defender has played a key role in it all.
The club won the first-ever African Football League and currently sit atop the PSL standings, but Regragui appears to believe Boutouil's contributions to those feats was not strong enough to consider naming him in his Atlas Lions squad for the upcoming continental showpiece in the Ivory Coast.
According to Analkhaba, this seems to have upset a lot of people in the north African nation, with the consensus seemingly being that the Sundowns man has played at a high enough standard to warrant inclusion in Regragui's 40-man preliminary squad.
The same report claims that many people in the country feel the former Wydad Athletic Club boss has made a tactical mistake by not including the Benslimane native.
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The defender's exclusion is likely to be a talking point until 3 January 2024, when the final 23-man squad needs to be submitted to CAF.
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