Real Madrid Winger Set to Represent Morocco in Upcoming Matches
Madrid: Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz was on Wednesday named in Morocco’s squad after deciding to represent the North African team rather than Spain.
Diaz was included in Walid Regragui’s 24-man roster for the matches against Angola and Mauritania this month, the Moroccan Football Federation said in a statement.
The 24-year-old represented Spain in one game and scored against Lithuania in 2021.
FIFA rules say players can switch international allegiance as long as they have made fewer than three appearances for a country before the age of 21 and have not played for that nation for at least three years.
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Former AC Milan winger Diaz has produced fine displays with Real Madrid far this season, scoring eight goals in 32 games in all competitions.
Rune battles past Fritz to set up Medvedev showdown at Indian Wells
The 20-year-old stepped up a gear to level the contest at one set all and broke his American opponent for the first time with some blistering shotmaking for a 3-1 lead in the decider.
With Fritz wilting in the California desert, Rune completed the comeback by closing out the match on serve, finishing with a fiery forehand winner.
“It was crazy. I really just stayed in the moment and kept fighting, trying to play better point to point and I managed to raise my level quite amazingly at the end of the second set, which meant everything for the match,” Rune said.
“He was controlling it in the first set and for a long time in the second as well, so I’m just happy I could keep fighting. I kept believing I was going to find my rhythm at some point. It was on the edge but I managed to find it, which was nice.”
Up next for Rune is last year’s runner-up Medvedev, who outclassed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4 with a near-flawless display to stay on course for his first title of the year after falling in the Australian Open final.
Rune, who split his two career meetings with the Russian last year, said he would come out all guns blazing.
“I’m a player that’s going to attack. I don’t care who I play, I’m going to attack anyways,” Rune said.
“Against Daniil it’s a completely different match from today. The only similarity between him and Fritz have is the big serve. Fritz is close to the baseline while Medvedev is far.
“Medvedev on this surface is dangerous like Fritz. I’m just going to recover and believe in myself like I did today.”
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