Hadji quit Morocco because he felt like an outsider

And the former Morocco team goalkeeper blamed the media for driving the big names away.

"The media said the players had no morale, no pleasure in playing for Morocco," he said.

"They said they don't feel the flag of Morocco, because they play for money."

But Badou said the way that the national team management had reacted to this had caused the Atlas Lions to miss out on the 2002 World Cup.

Slump in fortunes

"In 1998, when we qualified for France, we did well. But when we failed to do well at the Cup of Nations in 2000 in Nigeria and Ghana, most of the players were changed," he pointed out.

"We played two or three matches in the qualifying campaign for Japan and Korea with local players, not the professionals, and we lost four points.

"We brought the professionals back, but it was too late because we met Senegal needing a point to qualify, but we lost 1-0.

"We didn't pay in that match; we paid because of the mistakes of before."

Badou also identified the country's national league as a reason for the team's current slump in fortunes.

"The problem is not with the national team, it's with the clubs," he said.

"The clubs are under financial pressure; they have no possibility of generating players, and working with the boys.

"The league is not strong, and when you don't have a strong league, you have a very weak national team," he added.