Star player Achraf Hakimi offered his condolences over the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night.  It has killed hundreds of people and damaged buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. Rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest.

Achraf Hakimi offered in condoling with his compatriots remarked: “We are living a difficult moment for our fellow citizens. It is time to help each other to save as many lives as possible. My condolences to all who lost a loved one,” Hakimi wrote on Instagram.

The Confederation of African Football postponed the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match that pitched Morocco against Liberia last Saturday.

Agadir is roughly 170 kilometers (105 miles) southwest of the epicentre of Friday’s tremor — near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province.

The magnitude 6.8 quake was the hardest to hit Morocco in 120 years.

On Friday morning, the Moroccan  team arrived in Agadir and then trained at Adrar Stadium in the afternoon after coach Walid Regragui and captain Romain Saiss held a pre-match press conference.

The Atlas Lions made a historic run at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals, where they lost to France.

Morocco has already qualified for the 24-team tournament, which begins in January in Cote d’Ivoire.

The team was also scheduled to play a friendly match in France against Burkina Faso on Tuesday.

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