Jeddah – Mahmoud Al-Awadi
The sensational surprise caused by the Moroccan national team at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, brought back to Arab memory the milestone of the 1986 World Cup when the Atlas Lions reached the final price.
And if Badou Zaki’s team-mates Abdel Majeed El Dalmi, Mohamed El Haddawi, Mohamed El Timoumi and Aziz Bouderbala made history when they led the Moroccan national team to the round of 16, then Ashraf Hakimi’s team-mates Hakim Ziyech, Sofiane Merabet, Yassine Bono and Youssef El Nasri rewrote history after taking the Lions to the quarterfinals.
The challenges were great on both occasions; The then Brazilian manager, “Jose Al-Mahdi Faria”, attended the World Cup in Mexico with a group of players, most of whom were products of the local league, with the exception of 5 players with European experience, who are “Mustafa El Haddawi and Aziz Bou Derbala, players from Lausanne and Sion, the Swiss, and forward “Karimo”, the player of the French club Le Havre, and midfielder Azzedine Amanallah, who played for the French team Besançon and Mustafa Meri, Valenciennes player.
The Moroccan national team attended the 1986 World Cup as part of a strong group that included Poland, World Cup 3rd, Spain 1982, Portugal, European Nations Summer 1984 and England, which included big stars such as Gary Lineker.
On the other hand, the current generation came to the World Cup in Qatar under great pressure: coach Walid Rakraki took on the difficult task several months before the start of the World Cup. Former coach Wahid Khalilozic had ruled out a group of stars led by Hakim Ziyech, the Chelsea player, Naseer Mazraoui, the German player of Bayern Munich and others Regragui gave confidence to the team before starting technical work during the short preparatory period, in addition to the difficulty of the group they fell into the Atlas Lions in the current World Cup, which included Croatia, Russia 2018 Summer World Cup, Belgium, the third World Cup, and the ambitious Canadian team.
The start for both teams was wonderful: as the 1986 team drew with then strong Poland, the current team drew with Croatia and its big stars, and brilliant goalkeeper Badou Al Zaki’s companions drew with the England in the second game, while Ziyash’s team-mates achieved a historic victory over Belgium with two unanswered goals. Before the third round, in which every generation had to win to secure first place in the group, Khairy and the others reached the big accomplishment by defeating European runners-up Portugal by three goals to one, and the Rekerky Cubs claimed victory over Canada by two goals to one, so each team progressed to the second round as group champions.
And at a time when the Moroccan national team in Mexico was not destined to continue the achievement when they lost in the second round with an unanswered goal to Germany, who reached the final, the current team achieved a big surprise by overcoming Spain on penalties to advance to the quarter-finals, amid Moroccan-Arab wishes Defeating Portugal and continuing the march reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the history of the Arabs and Africa.
And it seems that history has been repeating itself at the level of remarkable goalkeeping brilliance, at a time when Badou Al-Zaki garnered world attention as one of the best goalkeepers at the World Cup in Mexico.. Yassin Bono repeated 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 others shone in Mexico and attracted attention to get professional offers, while Zaki moved to Spanish Real Mallorca and spent six seasons, while Timoumi moved to Real Murcia Club, on the contrary, the brilliance of Ashraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Merabet was no coincidence, they play in big clubs in Europe, but the doors could be opened for the rest to have experiences with the best European clubs.
