By Amr Shaheen BBC Sport

There is no Athens place for Tunisia 2004 hero Marouane Chamakh

Morocco coach Mustapha Madih has named his squad for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games football tournament.

Eighteen players will travel to Athens next month while another four players will be left in Morocco on hold.

Half of the eighteen players are based in Europe, while the three over-age players are goalkeeper Nadir Lemyaghri, midfielder Otmane El-Assas and striker Moubarki Bouchaib.

None of the players who were part of the Moroccan squad that reached the final of the African Cup of Nations earlier this year were summoned.

There is thus no place in Athens for France-based strikers Marouane Chamakh and Jaouad Zairi, and Madih explained why he chose El-Assas and Moubarki to lead his young side.

It is very important to achieve a positive result in our first match Morocco coach Mustapha Madih

"They have the experience needed for the occasion," he said.

"They both played in the previous Olympics in Sydney 2000."

Madih will count on Moubarki to solve his goalscoring problem after his side finished their warm-up matches with two goalless draws against Mali and South Korea.

Morocco will face Costa Rica in their Group D opener on 12 August and the North Africans believe it could be their key to the next round.

"It is very important to achieve a positive result in the first match," Madih explained.

"It would be a great boost for us."

In addition to the central American representatives, Morocco are in a group along with Portugal and Iraq.

Morocco's Olympic squad:

Goalkeepers:
Nadir Lemyaghri (Wydad Casablanca), Omar Cherif (Mouloudia Oujda)

Defenders:
Sami Tajeddine and Rbati Amine (both Raja Casablanca), Jamal Alioui (Perugia, Italy), Mouncif Zerka (Nancy, France), Azzdine Orahou (Istres, France)

Midfielders:
Otmane El-Assas (Al-Ittihad, Qatar), Yazid Kaissi (Lens, France), Oussama Souidi (Mallorca, Spain), Badr El Kadouri (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Marouane Zamama (Raja), Mehdi Taouil (Nurenberg, Germany)

Strikers:
Farid Talhaoui (Guingamp, France), Salheddine Akkal (Olympic Khouribga), Bouabid Bouden (Lens, France), Mustapha Alaoui (Maghreb A Sportive), Moubarki Bouchaib (Al-Wassl, Emirates)

Reserves:
Goalkeeper: Youssef Boutarbouch( Raja)
Defender: Abdelwahid Abdessamad (Raja)
Midfielder: Younes Zarouk (Wydad)
Striker: Jawad Akkadar (Olympic Khouribga)