Royal Approval: El Hilali reveals King Felipe VI congratulated him on Espanyol's season
Espanyol defender Omar El Hilali discusses missing AFCON, the team's winning streak, and his surprise royal encounter ahead of Athletic Bilbao clash
Royal Approval: El Hilali reveals King Felipe VI congratulated him on Espanyol’s season
Espanyol’s Omar El Hilali has been rubbing shoulders with Spanish royalty while his club continues their impressive run of form in La Liga.
Royal Recognition
The Moroccan defender revealed he had a chance meeting with King Felipe VI during L’Hospitalet’s centenary celebrations, where they discussed football and family matters. The monarch even took time to praise Espanyol’s current campaign.
“He congratulated me on the club’s season,” El Hilali revealed, clearly chuffed with the royal seal of approval.
Missing AFCON but focused on club duties
Despite the disappointment of not making Morocco’s final squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, El Hilali remains positive and fully committed to Espanyol’s cause:
“I’m very happy with the team and how the season is going,” he explained. “Everyone would like to have gone [to AFCON], but I’m focused on Espanyol, taking it game by game.”
Athletic Bilbao in their sights
Manolo González’s men are on an absolute tear right now, with the possibility of securing a fifth consecutive victory when they visit San Mamés on Monday. El Hilali is determined to keep the winning run going:
“We’ll go with our plan all the way, we’ll go to win, as we’ve been doing throughout the season. We want to head into the holiday break with three more points.”
Survival first, dreams later
Despite their current form putting them in a comfortable position, El Hilali was careful not to get carried away when discussing season objectives. Having suffered last season, the defender reiterated the club’s primary focus:
“Our objective everyone already knows, it’s not very difficult. We suffered a lot last year. First the objective, and from there, as you say, we’ll have to dream.”
The defender also had nothing but praise for manager Manolo González, describing him as “honest” and “sincere” while crediting him as “the captain of this ship.”
With their current momentum and the royal backing, perhaps those dreams might be worth entertaining after all. The Pericos are absolutely flying at the moment, and I wouldn’t bet my dog and bone against them continuing this purple patch against Athletic.