France-Morocco, the charge of 50,000 African fans for the semifinal – Corriere.it

This isn’t just a team, it’s a continent that wants to ball history, it’s a people on pilgrimage. And it’s not a figure of speech: in front of the Al Janoub stadium, the one whose shape evokes the boats that went in search of pearls, the Morocco fans began to gather on Monday around 10pm, before thirty special Royal Maroc flights from Casablanca (450 euros round trip) brought here another thousand red T-shirts, in addition to those already present. There are those who slept outdoors to get one of the tickets that the Moroccan Football Federation bought back and gave away for free to its fans who came from afar: “They deserve it”. The first African semi-final in ninety-two years of history has created a collective euphoria that goes well beyond the borders of the Maghreb and also makes those who want to resell tickets happy (with requests for up to 500 euros). The excitement may also prove counterproductive for Morocco, the Diaspora team which, in addition to the coach, has fourteen players born in Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Canada. But this enthusiasm created by the victories over Belgium, Spain and Portugal, by Bono’s saves and Ziyech’s flames, is irrepressible. The kiss of proud mothers, like Hakimi’s, who raised their boys by cleaning the stairs of buildings in the suburbs of Madrid or Rotterdam, went around the world: like the manifesto of a sweet but decisive revolution.

«It’s true, we struggled more than the others. But what matters, in addition to the hunger we have, is our competence. We will play at home and we are pleased about that» says coach Regragui, who has been beaten for his imperfect Arabic. Both he and Deschamps gravely underline that «it is only a football match, even if it is historic and full of passion. It must remain a party, whoever is the winner». The reference is not so much to what can happen in Qatar, but in European cities and in Paris in particular, where there will be 2,000 policemen on duty, against 1,200 in the previous match against France. About 45,000 Moroccan fans are expected in the Al Bayt Arab tent (out of 65,000), while the French will be 4,000half of the optimistic English who had already bought their ticket for the semi-final.

A hot away climate that France has already experienced with Tunisia, losing the third group match. After all, the Maghreb passion for football has certainly not broken out now: Morocco has seen its candidacy to host the World Cup rejected several times and the fact of having reached the semi-final in the first Arab tournament in history has a unique flavour. For 2030, the candidacy of the three continents with Arabia-Egypt-Greece is in the front row to play their cards against Argentina-Uruguay, Chile-Paraguay and the Spain-Portugal-Ukraine trio. Because this is a starting point for the African and Arab teams: on and off the field.