They’re the underdogs taking the World (Cup) by storm, and if you’re not a fan of soccer, you’d be forgiven for not being able to name a single player on the team called the Atlas Lions.
Morocco is through to the semifinals in Qatar, making history as the first African, Arab and Muslim nation to reach the final four.
Along the way, they have beaten Belgium (world number two), Spain (7) and most recently Portugal (9) without conceding a single goal. In their group stage, they also held off Croatia to a goalless draw, the 2018 finalists having reached the semi-finals this time as well. In fact, the only goal they have conceded in the entire tournament was an own goal in a 2-1 win over Canada.
It is nothing short of miraculous. The team’s coach, Walid Regragui, was appointed to the role only on August 31, and when he was appointed, the skinhead mastermind was dismissively branded an ‘avocado head’ by pundits in the North African nation. .
He has proven all doubters wrong about Morocco’s miracle run, even holding an avocado to his head, with a miniature soccer ball inside, in a brazen attack on his critics.
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After beating Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals, he stated: “When you see Rocky, you want to support Rocky Balboa for his hard work and commitment, and I believe we are the Rocky of this World Cup.
“We are becoming the team that everyone loves in this World Cup, because we are showing that even if you don’t have that much talent, if you show that desire, heart and faith, you can make it.
“I’m sure many of you will say this is a miracle, but we’ve won without conceding against Belgium, Spain, Portugal and that’s the result of hard work.”
Morocco’s success is not just due to Regragui’s efforts in recent months, but is the result of nearly a decade of hard work at home.
Regragui himself was born in France, where he played most of his career as a right-back. It’s no wonder, then, that his team defends so strongly against the heavyweight attacks of his more favored opponents.
And like Regragui, many of his squad were born abroad: a whopping 14 of his 26 players, the most of any nation.
PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi was born in Madrid. Goalkeeper Yassine ‘Bono’ Bounou was born in Canada. Chelsea striker Hakim Ziyech was born in the Netherlands, while captain Romain Saiss was one of many born in France. Much of that is due to the Moroccan diaspora across Europe: around five million people in total, with more than a million settling in France and around 800,000 in Spain.
In 2014, Morocco made a concerted bid to convince foreign-born talent to represent the country by heritage, rather than birth.
Early the following year, Ziyech was about to play for the Dutch national team, but decided to leave his team’s camp and turn his back on the nation. He made his Morocco debut later that year and has played a key role in their rapid rise, scoring against Canada and then conceding a penalty in the shootout win over Spain.
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The decision to select so many foreign-born players was highly controversial in Morocco, necessitating a backflip after previous manager Vahid Halilhodžić exiled the likes of Ziyech.
But Regragui has united the team under a single banner. As he declared after that impressive victory over Spain: “Today, we have shown that all Moroccans are Moroccans. When he gets to the national team, when they come with his passport, he wants to die, he wants to fight for his country.
“As a coach, I was born in France and no one can have my heart for my country.
“The good thing is that the players are born in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium; all countries have a football culture and we have created a mix”.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI said the players embody the “hopes and dreams of Moroccans… around the world.”
THE MOTHERS
Part of the success, and one of the key reasons why they have been embraced by fans of all nations, is due to Regragui’s decision to invite the players’ families to Qatar and make them a key part of the team’s journey. . All players were offered the opportunity for their families to enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Qatar. Their World Cup base, Wyndham Doha West Bay, is often more like a summer camp run by a family.
“During his entire career as a player and as a coach, I never traveled to see him,” his mother Fatima told Moroccan television channel Arryadia. “I have lived in France for more than 50 years and this is the first competition for which I left Paris.”
It goes back to something Regragui said on his first day as Morocco’s coach: “Our success is not possible without the happiness of our parents.”
Parents and families are front row at their games, or even on the field celebrating with the team after victories. Achraf Hakimi, one of the world’s best right-backs, has gone viral for celebrating with his mother, with the 24-year-old planting a kiss on his mother’s forehead.
“My mother was a cleaning lady and my father was a street vendor,” he told the Spanish television program El Chiringuito. “They gave their lives for me. They took a lot of things from my brothers for me to be successful. Today I play for them”.
“I love you mom,” Hakimi captioned a photo of himself celebrating with his mother after Belgium’s win.
After the quarterfinal win over Portugal, Sofiane Boufal, 29, lowered her mother to the ground and danced in front of chanting fans.
Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou celebrated his stellar performance by playing with his young son on the pitch.
His son, Isaac, donned his father’s oversized gloves and even put the ball into the net, drawing huge applause from the Moroccan fans still in the stadium.
THE FANS
And there has been no shortage of Morocco fans in the stands cheering them on.
Qatar is home to more than 15,000 Moroccans and thousands more have flooded into the nearby nation. One estimate was 50,000 Moroccans in Doha for the quarterfinals.
In each game, his supporters have filled more than 80 percent of the stands. Its roar of noise, drums, dancing and an iconic version of the classic ‘Viking clap’.
After his gutsy win over Belgium, Regragui declared: “I swear to God if the fans weren’t here, we wouldn’t have advanced to the next round!”
Such was the support in Qatar that FIFA allocated 5,000 additional tickets for the Moroccans to attend the match with Spain. The Royal Moroccan Federation got more tickets and distributed them for free. Coach Regragui even had a security guard tear down a fence outside the team hotel to give a fan a spare ticket.
THE BIGGER CONTEXT
But the success of Atlas Lions is about more than one nation. His storied journey has attracted and delighted fans from all over the world. In what is already a memorable World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East, the Moroccan underdogs have become the first African, Arab and Muslim nation to reach the final four.
In Palestine and Tehran, fans have filled the streets in celebration just like in Marrakech or Casablanca.
When South Africa hosted the continent’s first World Cup in 2010, Ghana’s Black Stars united Africa with their glittering run to the quarter-finals, before losing to Uruguay in a dramatic and cruel outing. Now, it is Morocco, which also bid to host that 2010 tournament, that carries the hopes of a continent.
“Africa is back on the football map today,” Regragui said after Portugal’s win. “We had the mentality. We knew we could make history for Africa.
“We had the right attitude for our people, for ourselves, for Africa.”
He said earlier in the tournament: “I’m very proud of my fans, my people and the Arab people, because I think you have Qatari people, maybe Algerian people, Tunisian people, Arab people and African people, you have a lot of countries behind our backs to make history”.
THE DREAM
Hardly anyone believed that Morocco could go that far in the World Cup. In fact, many experts declared that they had no chance of getting out of a difficult group.
“It’s crazy. We are living a dream and we don’t want to wake up. I have goosebumps,” winger Sofiane Boufal said after the quarterfinal.
The dream is shared by everyone on the campus.
Bounou said: “We are in the same state as you…pinch me, I think I’m dreaming.”
The dream is not over.
“We can dream, why shouldn’t we dream of winning the World Cup?” said Regragui, who was one of many who cried after their quarterfinal victory.
“It costs you nothing to have dreams. European countries have gotten used to winning the World Cup…
“Anyone playing us now is going to have to be at the top of their game to beat us, it’s not going to be easy for them, that’s the message I’m trying to send.”
If they make it to the final, they will be the first nation outside of Europe or South America. But whatever happens against defending champions France on Thursday morning (6am AEDT), the Atlas Lions have already made an impact that will reverberate across world football for decades to come.
“What is important for future generations is that we have shown that it is possible for an African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Or even the final, why not? Regragui said.
“These moments are great, but we are here to change the mindset,” Bounou said. “This feeling of inferiority… in fact, we have changed this mentality, and the generation that comes after us will know that Moroccan players can create miracles.”
