The roar engulfed the stadium, ricocheted off surrounding highways and spread throughout Doha. Certainly, its echo has reverberated in every street of Morocco, and to the highest peaks of the Atlas. At 7:57 p.m. (5:57 p.m. Paris time), Saturday, December 10, the Argentinian referee Facundo Tello put his whistle in his mouth for the last time of the evening, and released a whole people.
Exhausted, the Atlas Lions let their joy burst out on the field of the Al-Thumama stadium in Doha, in unison with the stands entirely committed to their cause. Winners of Portugal in the quarter-finals of the World Cup (1-0), Youssef En-Nesyri’s partners became the first African nation to qualify for the last four of a World Cup.
“It’s not a miracle, be careful! » Walid Regragui insists, to make himself understood. His team shattered the glass ceiling of the quarter-finals of a World Cup on which Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 had broken their teeth; but the coach of the Atlas Lions does not want to hear about exploits. “It’s work. We don’t have an atypical career, we only faced big guys. Croatia, Belgium, Canada, which is the best team in North America, Spain and Portugal. For zero goals conceded. » Only one, in reality, but against his side of a defender against Canada. After Spain in the round of 16, Portugal in turn fell into the nets set by the men of the Franco-Moroccan coach.
Captain Romain Saiss’ teammates have continued their momentum since the start of the World Cup. Intractable in defense, the Moroccans let their opponents come, to better take them from behind. In a fiery atmosphere, Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi or Sofiane Boufal demonstrated their technical quality to never get rid of the ball once it was recovered.
“Defeat is unfair, but that’s football”, says Santos
During his first tournament with the Portugal team, Cristiano Ronaldo failed in the final of Euro 2004 against Greece. Kneeling in tears on the lawn, the one who on Saturday equaled the world record for the number of selections (196) relived such disillusion eighteen years later, for his – probable – last campaign. This year, the defeat of his Seleçao took place in the quarter-finals; but this Morocco version 2022 is not without evoking the crowned European champion team to everyone’s surprise.
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