Winners of the Selaçao by Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday in quarters (1-0), the Atlas Lions are the first African team to reach the last square of a World Cup.
by Clément Martel (Doha, Special Envoy)
The roar swallowed the stadium, ricoche on the surrounding highways and spread in all doha. Surely, his echo has repercussions in each rue du Maroc, and up to the highest peaks in the Atlas. At 7:57 p.m. (5:57 p.m. Paris time), Saturday December 10, the Argentinian referee Facundo Telo put his whistle in the mouth for the last time of the evening, and released a whole people.
In the Atlas Lions have let their joy burst, on the field of the Al-Thumama stadium in Doha, in unison with the stands entirely acquired to their cause. Winners of Portugal in the quarterfinals of the World Cup (1-0), the partners of Youssef En-Nesyri became the African First Nation to qualify for the last square 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 Atlas Lions coach does not want to hear about a feat. “It’s work. We don’t have an atypical course, we only faced big. Croatia, Belgium, Canada, which is the best team in North America, Spain and the Portugal. For zero goal cashed. “One, in reality, but against his camp of a defender against Canada. After Spain in the round of 16, Portugal in turn fell into the nets stretched by the men of the Franco-Moroccan coach.
The teammates of Captain Romain Saiss have continued their momentum since the start of the World Cup. Intratable in defense, the Moroccans let their opponents come, to better take them backwards. In a fiery atmosphere, Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi or Sofiane Boufal asserted their technical quality to never get rid of the ball, once the latter recovered.
“The defeat is unfair, but it is football “, according to Santos
During his first tournament with the Portugal team, Cristiano Ronaldo failed in the 2004 Euro final against Greece. Kneeling in tears on the lawn, the one who equaled the world record on Saturday in the number of selections (196) revived such a disillusionment eighteen years later, for its – probable – last campaign. This year, the defeat of his Seleçao took place in the quarterfinals; But this Morocco version 2022 is not without mentioning the sacred European champion team to everyone’s surprise.
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