NEW YORK, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Morocco will be without one of its star players for the forthcoming World Cup finals after winger Abde Ezzalzouli suffered a twisted knee ligament in his side's 1-1 draw against Norway at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.
The Betis winger suffered the injury after colliding with teammate Chadi Riad at the end of the first half and had to be helped off the pitch before being replaced by Soufiane Rahimi for the second half.
Abde had played an important role in the match by setting up Brahim Diaz to open the scoring in the eighth minute, with Martin Odegaard leveling for Norway 15 minutes from time.
Early indications are that the injury will keep Abde out of action for at least three to four weeks, making him a major doubt for the tournament.
Noussair Mazraoui will give Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi another injury concern after the defender was also forced off in Sunday's game with a muscle problem, with Youssef Belammari replacing him after just half an hour.
Morocco is tipped to go far in the World Cup after reaching the semifinals in 2022, but faces a difficult start to its campaign with an opening match against Brazil on June 14 before taking on Scotland and Haiti. ■
