The gamers of Morocco nationwide soccer staff have a good time on a bus and wave throughout a homecoming parade in central Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Morocco nationwide staff gained the fourth place on the final World Cup. (AP Picture/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
Rabat: Tens of hundreds of jubilant Moroccans welcomed their nationwide soccer staff house on Tuesday after the gamers exceeded the North African nation’s wildest expectations and completed fourth on the World Cup in Qatar.
Followers packed squares and lined up alongside avenues and streets in and round Rabat, lighting flares, waving flags, dancing to the beat of drums and cheering as an open-top bus carrying the swimsuit and tie-clad gamers rolled into the capital with a heavy police escort.
Smiling gamers and coach Walid Regragui waved, blew kisses to their ecstatic followers and snapped selfies in opposition to the backdrop of undulating crowds and swinging palm springs.
At some factors alongside the parade route, the crowds spilled from sidewalks onto a four-lane freeway carrying the bus. slowing down the automobile because it traveled to the royal palace the place King Mohammed VI was ready to obtain the gamers to “have a good time their nice and historic accomplishment.”
As the primary African or Arab staff to succeed in the World Cup semi-finals, the Moroccan staff, often known as the Atlas Lions, made historical past and was one of many large success tales of the match, the primary hosted by an Arab nation.
After the staff beat former European colonial powers Belgium, Spain and Portugal, they misplaced to France within the semi-finals. Morocco’s record-setting efficiency led to the gamers receiving a hero’s welcome.
“Morocco’s run within the 2022 FIFA World Cup might be remembered within the historical past books as one of the vital thrilling campaigns because the match’s inception,” café proprietor Reda Ghazi, 27, instructed The Related Press. “It was the dream of each Moroccan to win one thing, particularly as a result of Morocco is a rustic the place the fervour for soccer is overwhelming.”
Morocco completed fourth within the competitors after dropping to Croatia 1-2 within the third-place play-off on Saturday, exceeding the expectations of most Moroccans.
“I nonetheless can’t wrap my head round what occurred on this World Cup,” added pupil Anour El Berkaoui, 23. “The staff has now set the bar so excessive that we gained’t be pleased with something lower than successful the upcoming African Cup of Nations.”
The Moroccan staff charmed many Arab soccer followers who noticed within the staff a mirrored image of themselves. Gamers waved the Palestinian flag after their wins and celebrated on the sector with their moms and youngsters.
The staff additionally galvanized help throughout Africa.
“As an African staff, we broke quite a lot of data and made the entire continent proud,” Rabat resident Omar Zorgane mentioned .
“Morocco as an entire will achieve so much from this yr’s World Cup, from tourism to getting the eye of different nations to presumably internet hosting one of many greatest tournaments on the earth sooner or later,” he mentioned.
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