World Cup star’s father was known as tennis’ smiling assassin who made sporting history

Morocco midfielder Neil El Aynaoui unwittingly helped serve up a double fault from the penalty spot during their win over the Netherlands.

The Roma midfielder ironically channelled his famous tennis father in avoiding hitting the net when he stepped up first for the Atlas Lions.

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Thankfully for the 24-year-old, his miss didn’t prove too costly as Mohamed Ouahbi’s men came back to win the shootout 3-2.

In an alternate timeline, El Aynaoui may have been gearing up to play knockout format in a different sport at Wimbledon.

His father Younes was Morocco‘s first professional tennis player who reached two Grand Slam quarter-finals across his career.

The 54-year-old, who is currently coaching axed Wimbledon qualifier Hugo Gaston, even rose to a pro best of 14 in the world rankings.

However, his son, who was born in France but spent his early years in Spain, opted against continuing the El Aynaoui legacy – in tennis.

Younes revealed: “At first, it was more the tennis courts for Neil, because we spent more time there than on the football pitches.

“But we lived in Barcelona, and we know the passion for Barca there. From birth until he was ten or 11, he was immersed in tennis.

“That’s when he caught the football bug, and from then on, it was all he cared about.

“Besides his passion, Neil already had above-average physical abilities when he was little.

“He was fast. He worked on that when his older brother was always chasing him. We realised football was his thing when he joined the youth set-up in Nancy.

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“He played football every day, and we made sure it was his own project. I’ve always been very careful about what I eat, and he quickly picked up good eating habits.

“Neil’s also as regular as clockwork when it comes to sleep.

“He does everything he can to avoid getting injured. He really knows what he wants.

“His knowledge of football is pretty incredible. He lives for the game.

“Even as a young boy, Neil thought he could play at a higher level.
“He was a late bloomer, still quite scrawny, but playing against adults at 15 or 16 didn’t scare him.

“Today, he still has the same mindset. For him, only the ball matters, and he knows how to tune out everything else.”

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Who is Neil El Aynaoui’s famous father?

El Aynaoui senior was once dubbed tennis’s smiling assassin ahead of his 2003 Davis Cup clash with Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.

The Moroccan hero carved out a name for himself in a sport that was previously an unthinkable professional career in his country.

“I left against my father’s will,” he said.

“He even told me once that he was ashamed because people repeatedly told him that he was crazy to let me leave.

“He was obviously worried. No one in Morocco had ever earned a living playing tennis.”

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El Aynaoui Sr paid for his own flights to the Nick Bollettieri school in Florida, where he worked a smorgasbord of jobs to fund his dreams.

“I was half player, half teacher,” El Aynaoui added. “In the morning I could practise for free and in the afternoon I would feed balls to players. I was 19, and I would look after the kids there, check their rooms, drive the bus at the weekend or clean the gym.

“My breakthrough came in 1988 when I got a wild card and beat Thomas Muster in Casablanca when he was No.20 in the world.”

And 38 years later, Casablanca has a new El Aynaoui to hitch their star on in pursuit of the American dream at the World Cup.

Here’s looking at you, kid…