RABAT: Morocco captain and star player Achraf Hakimi is fit and ready for the host nation’s Africa Cup of Nations bid but may not start in the tournament’s opening game, coach Walid Regragui said on Saturday.
“Tomorrow will be my decision but he has more than done his job. His injury was not an easy one,” Regragui told reporters in Rabat where Morocco play minnows Comoros in the first match on Sunday.
“I still have another night to sleep and decide whether he starts or whether we protect him and see how it goes for the remaining games.
“He is able to start, but he might not start.”
Paris Saint-Germain right-back Hakimi, the African player of the year, has not played since coming off with a left ankle injury in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich on November 4.
The 27-year-old left the field in tears that night, clearly fearing for his chances of featuring at the Cup of Nations. The injury was later diagnosed as a severe sprain.
“I feel good. I am following the program given to me by the medical staff and the coach,” Hakimi, who also came sixth in this year’s Ballon d’Or ranking, said Saturday.
Regragui added: “He has made sacrifices over the last four or five weeks that nobody else could have made, and has set an example to the other players and the staff.
“Today we can see that the protocol we put in place after his injury has been more than positive but now we have the whole competition to manage.”
Morocco will also face Mali and Zambia in Group A as they bid to win a first Cup of Nations since 1976.
The tournament runs into the New Year and will finish with the final in Rabat on January 18.
Hakimi declared fit for hosts Morocco’s AFCON bid
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Hakimi declared fit for hosts Morocco’s AFCON bid
Patrick Reed keeps his cool to win Dubai Desert Classic by 4 shots
- Andy Sullivan fought back from a shaky front nine to hit a one-under 71 and finish second at 10 under
DUBAI: Patrick Reed was presented with the Dallah Trophy by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline & Group, in front of a big crowd at Emirates Golf Club as the American claimed the fourth DP World Tour title of his career with a composed four-shot victory at the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The 35-year-old stayed patient on a testing front nine as he carded eight pars and one dropped shot to reach the turn with his overnight advantage cut in half to two shots.
David Puig completed a hat-trick of birdies from the eighth to briefly sit one back before Reed signed for his first birdie at the 10th.
But when Reed birdied the 13th and Puig dropped a shot on the same hole, the World No. 44 regained his four-shot lead with five holes to play, and he never looked back.
Reed parred his way home for a 14-under-par total to become the sixth American winner of the Dallah trophy with his first Rolex Series event success at Emirates Golf Club.
“It hasn’t fully set in yet. Today was a lot harder than expected; I knew it was going to be,” Reed said.
“I just couldn’t get anything going on the front nine. I think I learned a lot about the round today.
“Instead of keeping my foot on the gas early, I tried to protect that four-shot lead, and then David goes and birdied eight and nine, and shut it down to two.
“Kess (Kessler Karain, caddie) was like, ‘It’s a dogfight. Now let’s get going and shoot under par on the back nine and no one will beat you.’ We were able to get that birdie there on 13 to get to one under and he (Puig) gave me a gift there by bogeying. From there on, it was hit fairways, hit greens and make no mistakes.”
The first movement came at the par-three fourth when Puig salvaged a bogey from a plugged lie. Reed safely found the green with his tee-shot, but the American three-putted as he missed the chance to extend his four-shot lead.
Reed could not improve on 13 under as he continued his par streak, but Puig made his move as the final group reached the turn.
He picked up his first birdie of the day at the eighth, and when he dialed in his approach to six feet for birdie at the ninth, he was two behind at 11 under.
Reed held his nerve to find the par-five 10th green in two, but he had to watch Puig card his third straight birdie at the same hole.
His lead was cut to one, but only briefly, as the American found the cup with a short birdie putt to return to 14 under.
Both men failed to find the green at the par-three 11th, with Reed missing his par putt from 5 feet. Puig had 4 feet to trim the leader’s advantage to one, only to miss his par effort.
The momentum swung back in the American’s favor with a birdie at the 13th, and when his Spanish playing partner, who produced a remarkable par save at the 12th, bogeyed the same hole, Reed was four ahead at 14 under.
Puig’s chance of victory proved even slimmer when he bogeyed the 15th as the leader opened up a five-shot advantage with three to play.
Reed had looks to increase his lead as he finished with five straight pars for his first DP World Tour crown since the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship.
Andy Sullivan fought back from a shaky front nine as he finished birdie-birdie in his one-under 71 to sit in solo second at 10 under.
Frenchman Julien Guerrier carded an eagle, two birdies and a bogey for his best finish at a Rolex Series event in third at nine under.
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, Francesco Molinari and Race to Dubai Rankings delivered by DP World leader Jayden Schaper were one shot further back, while Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia, Englishman Marcus Armitage and Puig, who was given a two-shot penalty for grounding a club in the bunker at the last, finished at seven under.
South African amateur Christiaan Maas was presented with the Emirates Golf Federation’s Leading Amateur award.
