“Where did that boy come from? He did not stop running. Spectacular.”You could forgive Luis Enrique for being surprised at how good Azzedine Ounahi was four years ago, when the Morocco midfielder was so impressive against Spain at the 2022 World Cup. After all, Ounahi was just 22 and had been playing in the French third tier only a year before.He looked like a star in the making back then, all relentless running and deceptive strength for someone who looked like a stiff breeze might blow him over.As the breakout star in the Morocco team that reached the semi-final, he became a transfer gossip column fixture. Barcelona were linked with him. He ultimately moved from Angers to Marseille in the January transfer window, but despite an electric debut when he came on and scored, things didn’t follow the path that his World Cup performances suggested.He was in and out of the Marseille team. He struggled to adapt to Igor Tudor’s 3-4-2-1 system. That continued in the following season, and by the summer of 2024, he had been loaned to Panathinaikos in Greece. After a season there, he signed for Girona in Spain, which is where he rediscovered his form.Diaspora fans are showing up for — and saving — this World CupAmy LawrenceGirona were relegated, but Ounahi stood out as one of the better midfielders in Spain. A more attacking, roaming role allowed him to flourish; that ability to not only eat up ground but turn his feet into football magnets, so impressive four years ago, was there again.His two goals and man-of-the-match performance against Canada in Morocco’s 3-0 win in this World Cup feels like the culmination of his revival, an upward point on a satisfying narrative arc.Morocco looked in trouble in the first half. Jesse Marsch’s side pressed them in a way that the Netherlands either couldn’t or chose not to in the previous round, and it was tough to see where a goal was coming from. After the game, Marsch claimed that Canada “totally, totally controlled” the game, but they couldn’t turn that total control into a goal.