Fans have a good time throughout a homecoming parade of Morocco nationwide soccer crew in central Rabat, Morocco on December 20, 2022
| Photo Credit: AP
Tens of hundreds of jubilant Moroccans welcomed their nationwide soccer crew house after the gamers exceeded the North African nation’s wildest expectations and completed fourth on the World Cup in Qatar.
Fans 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 car because it traveled to the royal palace the place King Mohammed VI was ready to obtain the gamers to “celebrate their great and historic accomplishment.”
As the primary African or Arab crew to achieve the World Cup semifinals, the Moroccan crew, often called 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 crew beat former European colonial powers Belgium, Spain and Portugal, it misplaced to France within the semifinals. Its record-setting efficiency led to the gamers receiving a hero’s welcome.
“Morocco’s run in the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be remembered in the history books as one of the most exciting campaigns since the tournament’s inception,” café proprietor Reda Ghazi, 27, advised The Associated Press. “It was the dream of every Moroccan to win something, especially because Morocco is a country where the passion for football is overwhelming.”
Morocco completed fourth within the competitors after shedding to Croatia 1-2 within the third-place play-off on Saturday, exceeding the expectations of most Moroccans.
“I still can’t wrap my head around what happened in this World Cup,” added scholar Anour El Berkaoui, 23.
“The team has now set the bar so high that we won’t be happy with anything less than winning the upcoming African Cup of Nations.”
The Moroccan crew charmed many Arab soccer followers who noticed within the crew a mirrored image of themselves. Players waved the Palestinian flag after their wins and celebrated on the sector with their moms and youngsters.
The crew additionally galvanized help throughout Africa.
“As an African team, we broke a lot of records and made the whole continent proud,” Rabat resident Omar Zorgane mentioned.
“Morocco as a whole will gain a lot from this year’s World Cup, from tourism to getting the attention of other countries to possibly hosting one of the biggest tournaments in the world in the future,” he mentioned.
