The jug of cold water was less cold but no less painful. Morocco had dreamed until the last moment of being able to reach the World Cup final, despite the fact that their step was at odds with the football aristocracy, even if Qatar 2022 showed that they could already manage it by his first name. There are always surprises and this time it was the turn of a seasoned and solid team.

For a few days, the Alaouite team was the pride of Africa, a continent that had never seen any of its representatives reach the quarter-finals, and also represented the self-esteem of the Arab world, which does not hadn’t made it past the round of 16.

The act of the “Atlas lions” opened a new path of hope for all the humble people of the planet and, following the flag of their coach, Walid Regragui, their crusade was a call for insurrection against the established power.

Until the last moment, until world champion France beat them in a close match, with two details that tipped the scales in favor of the Europeans. A defeat that yesterday led the Moroccan Federation to protest to FIFA for what it considers “unfair” the arbitration of Mexican César Ramos

Regragui and his team have always castigated conformism: “We will not have changed our mentality if we think that is enough”, warned the coach before the semi-final.

His gesture after the defeat denoted pain, sincere frustration, despite the fact that Morocco achieved the best World Cup in their history and that their achievement now opens new avenues for the assault on Olympus.

Regragui laid the first stone of an edifice which rests on two pillars, the revival of the diaspora and the improvement of internal training. Fourteen of the 26 “lions” were born outside their country, but all defended the colors with the same force. It is the result of a policy launched in 2014 and aimed at attracting players from all over the planet.

Fruit in Qatar

The fruit of this strategy was seen at the World Cup in Qatar. Four players born in Belgium, four in the Netherlands, two in France, two in Spain, one in Italy and Yassin Bono, in Canada. All defeated Belgium and Portugal and eliminated Spain.

Over the past eight years, Morocco has promoted a talent detection policy around the world. The idea was to get in touch with them even before they were 15 and to start working from an early age. Thus, they broke with the tradition, which was to convince them, once trained, to defend the red and green jersey. In addition, the national facilities have been improved and the Mohamed VI center has been created to make it a flagship of its football.

The man capable of amassing the two and creating the necessary chemistry was missing. There appeared coach Walid Regragui, he gave them the two weapons they needed: a strategy and a lot of confidence.