Jeddah – Mahmoud Al-Awadi
The resounding surprise caused by the Moroccan national team in the World Cup Qatar 2022, by qualifying for the quarter-finals of the World Cup Qatar 2022, brought back to the Arab memory the achievement of the World Cup 1986 when the Atlas Lions reached the final price.
And if the comrades of Badou Zaki, Abdel Majeed El Dalmi, Mohamed El Haddawi, Mohamed El Timoumi and Aziz Bouderbala wrote history when they led the Moroccan national team to the second round, then the comrades of Ashraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Merabet, Yassine Bono and Youssef El Nasri rewrote history following they led the Lions to the quarter-finals.
The challenges were great on both occasions; The Brazilian coach at the time, “Jose Al-Mahdi Faria”, participated in the World Cup in Mexico with a group of players, most of whom were the products of the local league, with the exception of 5 players with European experience, who are “Mustafa El Haddawi and Aziz Bou Derbala, players of Lausanne and Sion, the Swiss, and the striker “Karimo”, the player of the French club Le Havre, and the midfielder. Azzedine Amanallah, who used to play for the French team Besançon, and Mustafa Meri, the player of Valenciennes.
The Moroccan national team competed in the 1986 World Cup as part of a strong group that included Poland, the third World Cup, Spain 1982, Portugal, the summer of European Nations 1984, and England, which included big stars such as Gary Lineker.
On the other hand, the current generation entered the Qatar World Cup under great pressure. Coach Walid Rakraki took over the difficult task several months before the start of the World Cup. Former coach Wahid Khalilozic had excluded a group of stars headed by Hakim Ziyech, the Chelsea player, Naseer Mazraoui, the German player of Bayern Munich and others. Regragui gave the team confidence before starting the technical work during the short preparatory period, in addition to the difficulty of the group in which the Atlas Lions fell in the current World Cup, which included Croatia, the world summer in Russia 2018, Belgium, the third World Cup, and the ambitious Canadian team.
The beginning for the two teams was wonderful. At a time when the 1986 team tied with the then strong Poland, the current team tied with Croatia and its big stars, and the companions of the brilliant goalkeeper Badou Al Zaki tied with England in the second match, while Ziyash’s companions achieved a historic victory over Belgium with two goals without a response. Before the third round came, in which each generation needed to win to secure the top spot in the group, Khairy and the rest achieved the great achievement by defeating Portugal, the European runners-up, by three goals to one, and the Rekerky Cubs achieved victory over Canada with two goals to one, so each side crossed to the second round as the champion of the group.
And at a time when the Moroccan national team in Mexico was not destined to continue the achievement when it lost in the second round with a goal without a response to Germany, which reached the final, the current team was achieving a heavy-caliber surprise by overcoming Spain on penalties to cross to the quarter-finals, amid Moroccan-Arab wishes By defeating Portugal and continuing the march by reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the history of Arabs and Africa.
And it seems that history has repeated itself at the level of remarkable brilliance in goalkeeping, at a time when Badou Al-Zaki drew the world’s attention as one of the best goalkeepers in the World Cup in Mexico .. Yassin Bono was repeating the matter until he became one of the best goalkeepers in the tournament.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF91LL4SFVo
Abd al-Razzaq Khairy, Abd al-Karim Miri “Karimo”, Bouderbala and the rest shone in Mexico and drew attention to obtain professional offers, as Zaki moved to the Spanish Real Mallorca and spent six seasons, while Timoumi moved to Real Murcia Club, in contrast, the brilliance of Ashraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Merabet was not Coincidentally, they play in big clubs in Europe, but the doors may be opened for the rest to go through experiences with top European clubs.
