Underdog Lions roar into history
Everyone loves an underdog story and the one unfolding at the football World Cup in Qatar is one of the best. On Thursday morning, Morocco will become the first African country in the Cup’s history to play in a semi-final.
Against France, they will carry the hopes of a continent and also the Arab world. But they have also captured hearts everywhere with celebrations among expat populations in European cities. As the New York Times put it: “This is now Morocco’s World Cup”.
The Atlas Lions have roared through Belgium and the Iberian Peninsula nations of Spain and Portugal to get there, sparking jubilation on the streets of Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakesh.
Morocco has only conceded one opposition goal (to Canada) on their path to outdoing the efforts of Cameroon in 1990, Senegal (2002), and Ghana (2010) and making the semis. Morocco had previously reached the round of 16 at the 1986 Cup.
French Moroccan Walid Regragui, who has only been head coach for a few months, compared his side to Rocky Balboa and said: “We are now becoming the team that everyone loves in this World Cup because we are showing that even if you don’t have as much talent and money then you can succeed.”
There have been special heroes including Madrid-born defender Achraf Hakimi, of Paris SaintGermain, who scored the crucial penalty goal against Spain; Youssef En-Nesyri who headed in the winner against Portugal; and impressive goalkeeper Yassine “Bono” Bounou, temporarily the most famous Bono in the world.
Despite Middle East traditional political divides, the team has been a unifier through shared pride and faith. France, the fourthranked team, might be a step too far for Morocco. But the players’ heroics on the pitch have been triumphs of will, spirit, cohesion, rapid counter-attack, and defence.
Before the Qatar tournament, which involved 32 sides, Morocco were ranked 22nd in the world by Fifa to Belgium’s second, Spain’s seventh, and Portugal’s ninth. Morocco also drew with Croatia (12th) in the group stages.
Of the 26-man team, 14 were born among the Moroccan diaspora, in countries such as Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and France. Exposure to European sports has likely aided the team’s development but there has been significant investment at home, including a US$65 million ($101m) training complex. Morocco’s performances have given the country of 37 million a base to build a consistently strong team on. They have given millions of supporters some joy.
And there’s been a glimpse of a future where African nations can regularly challenge the European and South American powerhouses for supremacy in the sport’s feature event.