Qatar’s Doha CNN- The Moroccan football squad that rewrote history in the FIFA World Cup is known as The Atlas Lions. Their run has defied all predictions and taken them and every other African team further than they have ever been able to. Mapmakers of the beautiful game are aware that Qatar has irrevocably altered the international football map.
A draw against the 2018 champions Croatia, a heartfelt triumph over second-ranked Belgium, and another victory against Canada saw the Lions march to the top of their group are just a few of the remarkable moments Morocco’s development has generated. Images of the players kneeling on the field in prayer and the coach Walid Regragui being gleefully thrown into the air have become famous.
But undoubtedly the most moving and heartwarming moments of the competition have been those of these battle-tested conquering heroes joyfully—and even silly—celebrating with their mothers. Maher Mezahi, a North African football specialist, told CNN that the success of a squad whose foreign-born players hail from six different nations has been greatly influenced by the players’ families.
We all have distinct cultural baggage, but our parents are what tie us together, Coach Walid Regragui said to the group. And if our parents aren’t content, we won’t succeed,'” Mezahi added. It’s a positive mood that has permeated well beyond the stadiums and streets of Qatar and contrasts sharply with the more prevalent story in an Arab region plagued by increased political unrest, youth unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, and high rates of poverty.
A PhD candidate in Northwest African history at UC Davis, Samia Errazzouki, told CNN that it is “a source of joy for an area that has been plagued by war and turmoil.” “I believe that everyone who is oppressed may relate to this moment of bliss.” The triumph of Morocco has also given fresh life to a once-lost identity, as fans from all across the Arab world have praised the team’s accomplishments.
People had claimed that Arab nationalism was gone and that we were no longer unified, according to Mezahi. “As silly a concept as it may sound, it exists, and we’re seeing it develop in real life,” the author said of the Olympics, Algeria’s World Cup run in 2014, and especially this.
This tournament has been marked by a constant presence of the Palestinian struggle, which is essential to the identity of many Arabs worldwide. During their celebrations, the Moroccan squad posed with the distinctive tricolour flag, giving the cause—which supports Palestinian self-determination—the oxygen of a broad media platform.
Walking around Qatar’s Souq Waqif on a Monday night found football supporters from all across the area wearing Palestinian and Moroccan flags. 15-year-old boys from Syria and Egypt, 17-year-old Sudanese females, an Algerian guy, and a third from the occupied West Bank city of Nablus all talked with CNN.