Benatia full of praise for 'impeccable' new Morocco captain Saiss

BetOdds African All Stars Morocco Wolverhampton Wanderers Romain Saïss

The 33-year-old has tipped the new Atlas Lions skipper for greatness

Medhi Benatia has described new Morocco captain Romain Saiss as "impeccable".

The 30-year-old Wolverhampton Wanderers defender was named the new Atlas Lions captain upon Benatia's retirement from the national team.Benatia decided to call time on his international career after last year's Africa Cup of Nations outing in Egypt in which the North Africans suffered a humiliating penalty shootout loss to Benin Republic in the Round of 16.

Saiss has been capped 41 times for Morocco and played at the 2017 and 2019 Afcons as well as the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"It is he who must take over and supervise young talents. He is impeccable, loved ... Saiss will surely be the new captain," Benatia told Bein Sports.

The former Juventus and Bayern Munich centre-back played 58 times for Morocco between 2008 and 2019 and has named a list of defenders who could be influential for the national team.

[Romain] Saiss, [Jawad] El Yamiq, Yunis [Abdelhamid], Nayef [Aguerd] , [Zouhair] Feddal… I can name some players for you," Benatia continued.

"And we're talking about guys from Ligue 1, or Premier League, of the real level. Without counting all the Moroccans who are in Botola, I know that work is done at this level."

The Bundesliga returned to action over the weekend after two months of inaction and the biggest result came from Signal Iduna Park where Borussia Dortmund thrashed Schalke 04 4-0 in the Revierderby.

Two Moroccans in Achraf Hakimi and Amine Harit were in action and Benatia was happy to see them feature.

Hakimi, who is on loan from Real Madrid, continues to see a rise in reputation as one of the best full-backs in the world.

He has played 33 times in all competitions for Dortmund this term, scoring 7 goals and providing 10 assists.

Harit, meanwhile, has made 28 appearances for Schalke in all competitions this season, scoring seven goals and providing another seven assists.

"Isn't it nice to see two Moroccans? Little Amine on one side and little Ashraf on the other," Benatia added.

"These are not players who complete the group, they may be the best players of the current season for each team. You're proud, you're happy."

2020-05-18 23:00:04

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