Morocco will always have Qatar

The gusts of deluge that precipitated this Wednesday over Casablanca did not stop one iota the spirit of its inhabitants in the great night of Moroccan football.

The coastal megacity will not have the capital pedigree of Rabat, nor the imperial past of Fez or Marrakech, nor the cosmopolitan aura of Tangier.

But Casablanca embodies the young, confident energy of modern Morocco, the same energy that has led its national team to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar.

Thousands of fans vibrated live in front of the giant screens of the marquee located next to the Mohamed V stadium or in strategic meeting points such as the Morocco Mall macro shopping center, on the shores of the Atlantic.

The early French goal imposed silence on the Casablanca streets, but the roars of anguish and excitement soon resounded in the metropolis.

Kolo Muani's late goal unleashed mixed feelings of resignation, for the defeat against

, and satisfaction, for the high levels reached in the World Cup.

From the big cities to the smallest village in the Maghreb country, the expectation before the sporting clash with France, the ex-colonial power whose culture permeates Moroccan daily life, was reproduced with the same scheme.

Large family gatherings around the television or conclaves of friends and neighbors at the tables of a cafe.

Mohamed (he preferred not to provide his last name), 44, was busy shortly before the game at the Casa José restaurant, a Spanish chain of fine tapas highly appreciated in Morocco, to serve more than 150 diners during the match.

“As soon as the final whistle sounds, everyone will take to the streets to celebrate, win or lose;

what the national team has achieved is already history”, pontificated the manager of the premises located near the Casablanca Puerto railway station, at the intersection of the old medina with the center of the French colonial era.

There are not many Moroccans who can afford a menu in this restaurant that far exceeds 200 dirhams (about 18.5 euros) per person, in a country where four out of ten declared wage earners only receive 3,000 dirhams (280 euros) per month. of the official minimum wage.

The informal or submerged economy, moreover, continues to have a weight of 30%.

At the neighboring Port station, the heart of the Casablanca commuter system and its periphery, Fátima Gherazi, 25, finished her coffee before boarding a train to Rabat, where her parents and siblings reside.

"This has to be lived with the family," said she, an employee in a network of tourist apartments in Casablanca who studied administration and management of hotels in Tangier.

“The Moroccan team's strategy is giving good results.

It may be too defensive ”, she analyzes,“ but it brings us great joy ”.

He firmly believes that the successes of the Atlas Lions in Qatar have contributed to improving the image of his country.

"Morocco has never stopped believing", he considers, before rivals of the stature of Spain, Portugal or, now, France.

“I am confident that it will also improve the tourism sector and the economy in general;

the Arab and African countries are now with us, ”she pointed out this professional before heading towards the platform at the railway terminal.

Thousands of passengers also rushed to arrive in time to follow the highest level match played by the Moroccan team in its history on the screen.

At dawn, hundreds of travelers had gone to the Casablanca airport to board one of the 30 special flights to Doha scheduled by Royal Air Maroc (RAM).

The cancellation of seven of them, apparently in an attempt by Qatar to prevent the arrival of spectators without an entrance ticket to the stadium, sparked protests at the air terminal, according to the Moroccan digital press.

Both in the Medina of Casablanca, where there are still pockets of misery, and in the popular district of Maarif, the optimism emanating from the successes of Morocco was breathed, accompanied by the beneficial rainy season that has appeased the worst drought in the last 30 years.

"At least we have some joy in the midst of the chained crises of the covid and the war in Ukraine, which have damaged our economy," acknowledged Karim Salah, 47, in his computer establishment in Maarif, which was the neighborhood of the republicans exiled in Casablanca and continues to be a stronghold of the Moroccan left.

Filmed entirely in the US 80 years ago, the film

nevertheless left the imprint of the city's name in the memory of universal culture.

Some of his memorable phrases remain in the memory, which may well serve to describe the plot experienced in the last four weeks by the Atlas Lions, who have started a long friendship with millions of fans around the world, and who, like everyone will always have Qatar.

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