Atlas Lions triumph in Qatar
First African and Arab selection to ever make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
It all started with The FRMF releasing an official statement confirming the departure of a coach who qualified the Moroccan national team for the World Cup and led them to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. Vahid Halilhodzic had the squad playing some proper football, giving debuts to players like Louza and Ounahi and rediscovering Soufiane Boufale, once the finest dribbler in the world, but also forcing Hakim Ziyech to international retirement. Mazraoui of Bayern Munich was another who did not appreciate Vahid’s tenure as manager.
Furthermore, the major cause for Vahid dismissal was the development of another highly-rated coach, who pushed his reputation to the continental level by winning the African Champions League and the Moroocan league in his first season as coach of Wydad Football Club. Walid Regragui’s accomplishments and tactical approach led to his appointment as national coach, a move toward trusting and promoting the capable Moroccan coach in order to better prepare the national squad for the Qatar World Cup.
Regragui began his managerial spell by visiting nearly every Moroccan player who had a chance to reach the 26-man list to represent Morocco in Qatar, sending good words and encouraging them. As his remarks to the players were so similar at the conference, he challenged them to think that they can go so far in that tournament and that they are capable of accomplishing more than representing the country, broadly the continent, in the group phase and making the trip back home. We knew we had to battle for cards against the Red Devils, the 2018 World Cup runners-up, both of whom experts rank higher than us in terms of technical and tactical qualities, but also in terms of presence on the largest stages (experience), and Canada.
Chile, Paraguay, and Georgia friendlies were not regarded in the same manner that a friendly game would be because the minority of locals who did not favor Walid’s nomination were keen to emphasize the coach’s lack of expertise and re-appeal for the hiring of a foreign coach. The way we deal with foreign coaches in Moroccan football is pretty peculiar to me; the Moroccan coach has always been busy trying to adjust to the expectations; you win titles, they challenge your playing style, you lose games, they remind you that the game is about winning. Strange, but it only happens with Morrocan coaches in the Moroocan league of football; forigners constantly bring new experiences and innovations, I doubt that.
That had abruptly changed because the squad performed admirably in both games against Chile and Paraguay, scoring two goals and not conceding. Winning against Chile and drawing with Paragway 0–0, despite being clearly better.
The time had come to travel to the world cup, but with some bad news as Amine Harit, OM’s star, had injured himself after a strong contact against Monaco’s Axel Diassi, add that to the fact that Imran Louza, strong contributor in the qualification to the world cup, was also injured and you’d get to know that the beginnings weren’t enlightening, not at all. That changed when the squad played its final friendly match in Qatar as they defeated the Georgians 3–0, with Ziyech scoring from the middle of the field.
The world cup began with several contentious political events, but it did not prevent us from witnessing the beauty of international football. In the opening game, Morocco played Croatia and held them to a draw, only to be roasted by the local press for the cautious approach, claiming that we could have exposed more threat if we had played some attacking football, but later events proved that a point wasn’t bad at all.
Second game, we played Belgium’s arrogant elders and brilliantly outmosted them in all aspects of the game, scoring two goals and conceding none, and this is where it gets dizzy because you literally can’t pick a specific player to praise because they’re all up there giving their all, even players who returned from injury or weren’t even featured for their clubs, such as Aguerd and Ammelah.
We played Canada in the third game, holding the destiny of passing through in our hands, and we certainly didn’t give it up, winning 2–1. The first goal was scored by Hakim Ziyech following a mistaken pass from the opposition’s goalkeeper while the second was set up by Hakimi, who played a well-weighted curved ball to En-Nesseyri, who ran behind the center-backs, giving himself room to control with his left and shoot with his right to score. The Canadians controlled the game afterwards and scored through an own goal, but the Moroccan national team won and advanced to the knockout stages, tallying 7 poins out of 9 possible, for the first time since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Beating Spain and Portugal to qualify for the semi-finals…
Spain and Morocco are an extension of a complex relationship that has seen both countries coexist and Cohabitate in an extended space that is one of the world’s most geo-strategically sensitive regions, and that can be expanded when it comes to football. But this is the quarter-finals, where there is no place for coexistence; only one will triumph and exist.
The Spaniards began their World Cup campaign in the best possible way, defeating Costa Rica 7–0, displaying a better and wonderful idea of football. However, they were drawn against Germany and shockingly fell to Japan, another surprise of the tournament. So the Spaniards were in a stronger position to advance, but they faced a squad whose coach was willing to give up possession to the Spaniards and surprise them on the counter-attack, particularly down the right flank with Hakimi, Ziyech, and Ounahi. Oh my goodness, Ounahi! I’m not sure what role he was playing, but he was frequently moving to the sides to combine and move the ball out from the back fluidly (Mezzela), and he was frequently sliding inside carrying the ball to the final third. He’s always working on something for us. Returning to the game against Luis Enrique and his technicians controlled the game but failed to score against a well structured team, so the game proceeded to extra-times then penalties, where Bouno Sevilla’s Moroccan and first-choice goalkeeper came up big to save two penalties and left it to Hakimi to send us through coldly.
When I watch it again, the Panenka penalty hits me hard, and it also shows how mentally strong the Moroccan player can be.
Portugal was up next! Clearly, they are the most gifted team in Qatar. Their offensive front had been so surprising and efficient that they were coming off a 6–1 thrashing of their European rivals Switzerlands. But, for the first time in a long time, we knew how we’d approach them. Waled Regragui has been working in this World Cup building an identity and nurturing a precise playing style that can be positionally characterized as a 4–1–4–1 with defensive wingers, pressing forward or pressing machine when talking about En-Nsseyri, a lone Defensive midfielder in the name of a Fiorentina’s solid Nordine Amrabat. In this game, I believe the team tended to tighten the spaces between the lines in order to force the Portuguese team to play wide and cross when we’d have better chances to clear the ball because we simply had towers rather than central defenders in all of the selected defenders; Aguerd, El Yamik, Benoun, Dari, and our captain Saiss who played through injury and left the pitch in the second-half, when Ennesyri towered header from Attiat-Allah cross in the 42nd minute had already gave us the lead. The last part of the match was tense and intense, but the lads defended admirably and earned the honor of being the first Arab African national team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
If your Moroccan rewind it and see how events built up to bring Walid Regragui, the first African-Moroccan coach to reach the World Cup semi-finals. All of this with a squad that includes six players that either play in the Moroccan league or have done so at some point in their professional careers.
We made history, and we’re still ready to accomplish more! This victory has far-reaching implications beyond football since it sends a message to all Moroccans around the world that;
We Moroccans can compete and so achieve regardless of who is on the opposite side.
That’s the message Regragui conveyed and repeated to his players, and it’s the same one they’re all conveying to us, albeit from a different perspective and a far away nation.
This team of staff ad players created history and are still eager for more! May Allah guide them to victory and success.
