Morocco striker El Kaabi is a humble guy... but his feet are never on the ground!

Ayoub El Kaabi may not be one of the truly big-name superstars at this ongoing Africa Cup of Nations but the way he's scoring his goals, mostly upside-down, is certainly grabbing attention.

The Morocco striker's unorthodox route to the top, as well as his proclivity for scoring Goal of the Tournament contenders at key moments, are quickly making him an emblematic figure at the heart of the Atlas Lions' title bid as they prepare to face Tanzania on Sunday.

El Kaabi didn't start the tournament as Morocco's centreforward, but after coming off the bench to seal victory against Comoros with an acrobatic bicycle kick looks to have locked down a spot in Walid Regragui's starting XI.

Now 32, the striker has taken an atypical road to the AFCON, having played exclusively in Morocco's domestic top flight -- the Botola -- until he was 25, leaving soon after making his full international debut.

After a brief stay in China with Hebei China Fortune, he returned to the domestic top flight with Wydad Casablanca in 2019, despite ongoing rumours of a move to Europe, and has since featured in Turkey and Qatar before settling at Greek giants Olympiacos in 2023.

While this multi-cultural Moroccan side is forged from dual-nationality players who were raised in Europe, or local talents who came through the country's prestigious Mohammed VI Academy, El Kaabi is an outlier, having only signed his first professional contract at 21.

Born and raised in a working-class neighbourhood of Casablanca, El Kaabi left school at 15 in order to begin working as an apprentice carpenter, a profession he pursued until finally being able to step into the world of professional football.

"He's had an atypical route to where he is, but he's a great example for the youth of Morocco," head coach Regragui told ESPN ahead of the Atlas Lions' AFCON Last 16 meeting with Tanzania.

"He was a carpenter, then he also played as a leftback, but later he was converted to an attacker and scored twice against my team (FUS Rabat) in the Coupe de Throne (Morocco's equivalent of the FA Cup).

"I wanted to recruit him back then, given his raw talent," Regragui continued. "He's had highs and lows in his career, but he's never given up.

"I have only one word to describe him: humility. He knows where he's been, he knows where he's going, and he's a super guy on a human level.

"For the young people of Morocco, who never went to a football academy, whether they're carpenters or whatever, we must value this kind of person," the head coach added.

"He's the kind of person who makes young Moroccans dream, and I'm very proud of him, he's an exceptional player."

While technically, missing out on academy football and the benefits of a professional structure may have led to some holes in the striker's game, he's been recognised both domestically and abroad for his rawer qualities: the instincts, the bullishness, the reflexes, and the capacity for innovation that may have been at odds with a traditional football academy upbringing.

Indeed, the six-footer's imaginative approach to forward play has been evident at the ongoing AFCON on home soil, where he's already netted two of the Goal of the Tournament contenders, both acrobatic overhead kicks, against Comoros and Zambia, at the national stadium in Rabat.

It's just rewards for a player who, as Regragui alludes to, hasn't always had things going his way during his career, from having to return to Morocco in 2020 amidst the coronavirus pandemic in China to having to leave Hataypor following the Turkish earthquake disaster in 2023 to missing out on the World Cup in 2022.

"I was head coach of FUS Rabat when he was at Racing de Casablanca," Regragui recalled, "and I wanted to recruit him, but the president of RS Berkane pipped me at the last minute.

"He did well there, he was the top scorer in the league, with 20 goals I believe, was top scorer at the African Nations Championship, but I didn't call him up for the World Cup in 2022, even though he'd played in the qualifiers.

"He didn't say a thing," Regragui added. "He didn't complain, but worked hard, he battled, trained seriously, he made a good choice of club, and now he's our first-choice striker, thanks to the work he did.

"It proves how the hard work and patience he showed reflect his humility."

Three-goal El Kaabi serves as an example of the kind of attitude the head coach is looking to instil in this Morocco side, widely touted as champions elect by both local fans and foreign press, with Regragui acutely aware of the dangers of the hosts believing their own hype as they look to end their half-century wait for the continental crown.

"We need to be humble and keep our feet on the ground," the coach concluded. "Everyone has us as favourites, but Tanzania are a team who are growing in the competition, and we must play this match with all of our means and all of our strength so that they can't cause an upset.

"This is the AFCON of humility. We have to ask: 'why haven't Morocco won the AFCON for 50 years?' Because at times we lacked humility. We must not fall into this trap."

It was a sentiment echoed by captain Romain Saïss to ESPN: "We have to prove that we're humble.

"In the past, we missed things, we were eliminated by teams who were meant to be weaker than us in a footballing sense, we didn't do what was needed to go through, and we had illusions."

El Kaabi, from his humble beginnings, and with a football career that almost didn't take off, looks certain to keep his feet on the ground as he looks to make up for lost time with the national side.

His feet on the ground, that is, until the Atlas Lions decide it's time for yet another one of his acrobatic Goal of the Tournament contenders...