Another vital goal for the Lions of Atlas at the weekend earned Morocco a crucial away point in the qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, keeping them on course for a place in Germany.

Young Chamakh was the scorer as Morocco drew 1-1 with Guinea away in Conakry to stay up among the front-runners as the halfway stage of the preliminaries fast approaches.

Despite his tender age, the 20-year-old striker has now taken over as the North African team’s key attacker as they bid for a place in the final round of qualifying.

Morocco have been to two of the last three FIFA World Cup finals but were disappointed to lose out to Senegal for a place at the last tournament in Korea and Japan in 2002.

That setback has proven the motivating force behind an exhaustive overhaul of the football federation and the national side and the introduction of exciting young talent, like that of the Bordeaux striker.

Coach Badou Ezaki, who had been impressive Morocco’s goalkeeper at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, took his experimental side to the African Nations Cup finals in Tunisia earlier this year with the express purpose of giving them some vital international experience and exposure before the start of the qualifying competition in June.

Shock CAN campaign
He did not expect much beyond that, carefully espousing his plan to use the three-week tournament to blood is youthful side for the future.

Instead they surprised all and sundry, including Ezaki, by reaching the final and narrowly losing 2-1 to hosts Tunisia in the decider at the November 7 Stadium at Rades.

Chamakh was a regular performer for the team in Tunisia – he played 90 minutes in five of Morocco’s six matches and scored twice – confirming the potential Ezaki had seen when he gave the forward his debut six months earlier.

Chamakh’s choice
“At the age of 19 I had to choose between the Moroccan side and the French,” the youngster said. “I hesitated at first because the French were the first to call me up for a friendly match for the under-19 side.”

But once Morocco made their interest known, Chamakh insists his decision was an easy one.

“All my family are there and it was a team I had supported since the 1998 World Cup finals in France. From that time I had preferred the Moroccans rather than Les Blues and I had to be true to my heart.”

Chamakh was born in Tonneins on 10 January, 1984 and has been at Girondins Bordeaux since he was a teenager, spotted by former French captain and libero Marius Tresor. His debut for the Ligue 1 club in February of last year precipitated his first match at international level.

An early, prolific start
Ezaki used Chamakh as a substitute for the last three minutes of a Nations Cup qualifier at Sierra Leone in June 2003 and was immediately convinced of the player’s massive ability. By the end of the year, Chamakh had also scored his first international goal, in a friendly at home to Trinidad & Tobago in September. He had already also scored his first goal in Ligue 1 by then too, and his place on the first teams of both club and country was becoming more and more secure by the day.

Chamakh now has a total of five international goals in 16 appearances. His huge progress in the space of just 14 months from a bit-part teenage international talent to the star of the show has been nothing if not dramatic. Now, Morocco will be looking forward to his precocious talent taking them all the way to Germany in 2006.