(Doha) For Morocco and for Africa! Winner 1-0 of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the World Cup-2022, Morocco entered football history by becoming the first African country to reach the last four of the World Cup.
Roger Milla’s Cameroon in 1990 and El-Hadji Diouf’s Senegal in 2002 came very close, Asamoah Gyan’s Ghana even closer in 2010, when it took a willing hand from Luis Suarez then a penalty shootout to deprive him of the semi-finals.
On Saturday, Morocco succeeded, finally, at the cost of admirable courage and an iron defense, over a formidable course which saw them face Croatia, vice-world champion, and Belgium, 3 rd in the previous World Cup, before successfully coming up against two great powers in world football, Spain then Portugal, in the knockout phase.
“That’s it, they did it! ! ! ! Congratulations Morocco for this achievement. Long live Africa! “, immediately tweeted Didier Drogba, legend of African football who could never approach this historic achievement with Côte d’Ivoire.
Ça y est, ils l’ont fait !!!!bravo le Maroc @FRMFOFFICIEL pour cet exploit
— Didier Drogba (@didierdrogba) December 10, 2022
Vive l’Afrique 🇲🇦 🇲🇦 🇲🇦 🇲🇦 🇲🇦 🇲🇦 @WalidRegraguiof frère suis trop content pour toi ♥️
At the Al-Thumama stadium, Morocco’s players ended up scattered in all corners of the field at the final whistle, exhausted, upset, not coming back, wrapping themselves in red flags at the green star for those who managed to stay upright.
Ronaldo in tears
They then knelt down in front of the noisiest stand, but they were all, to salute the accomplices of this feat: the public came to support them. “I told the guys before the match that we had to write history for Africa,” coach Walid Regragui said afterwards.
At the same time, TV images showed Cristiano Ronaldo collapsed in the hallway of the stadium, shaken with sobs. Still a substitute at kick-off, the five-time Ballon d’Or came into play and thus equaled the world record for the number of selections, with 196.
Even for a record star like him, it doesn’t matter. He leaves his fifth World Cup without having been able to approach the trophy and, although he is 37 years old, he knows that he will probably never win it.
The heroes of the day, anyway, were Moroccans. The first is the scorer, Youssef En-Nesyri. In the 42nd minute , he jumped very, very high on a cross from Yahya Attiat-Allah, higher than Ruben Dias, and took advantage of Diogo Costa’s poor outing to score.
Then Morocco defended. He did almost nothing else, but he did it with courage, strength and without ever panicking. Despite the absence of their central defender Nayef Aguerd, the Atlas Lions repelled everything, with foot and head.
For Harit
Joao Felix three times, Bruno Fernandes, who hit the bar (45 ‘ ), then at the end of the match Rafael Leao, when Ronaldo’s presence in the area was an additional pain for the Moroccans, tried hard. But goalkeeper Yassine Bounou released everything, including when his team played with 10 after the expulsion of Walid Cheddira.
Anyway, to score a goal for the Lions in this tournament, you have to be… Moroccan. The only goal conceded by Morocco since the start of the World Cup was indeed signed Aguerd on one against his unlucky camp.
Saturday’s triumph is also that of Walid Regragui, who arrived at the head of the team in place of Vahid Halilhodzic less than three months before the start of the World Cup, and who made it a formidable machine, despite the absence due to injury. of Amine Harit, one of its main assets.
“GORGEOUS FUCKINGNNNN MY BROTHERS! DIMA MAGRIBBBBBB (Long live Morocco, editor’s note)”, tweeted the Marseillais.
The Moroccans are physically scarred and their captain Romain Saïss had to leave the field on a stretcher. But they have gone down in history and are carried by it. And now they are waiting for France, England’s faller (2-1)! For a first final for Africa.
