Jakarta, CNNI Indonesia —
Inhabitant Algeria willing to go to Qatar to support the national team Morocco against France in the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup on Thursday (12/15) in the morning, when relations between the two countries were warm.
They are not interested in the conflict between their country and Morocco, which has escalated in recent years.
Ahead of the match between the two countries, the Algerian national anthem and traditional folk songs rang out in Qatar.
“One, two, three! Long live Algeria,” the chant is said to echo through Doha German waveTuesday (13/12).
Seeing the enthusiasm of Algerians, Moroccans appreciate this support. An Atlas Lions fan, Ahmed said he met many Algerian fans who exchanged flags with him.
“Everyone here feels African, everyone here feels Arab, everyone feels fantastic,” said Ahmed.
Another Moroccan fan, Yasmine, said she was happy to see so many Algerians supporting her country.
“We are all united. [Saya] it’s nice to see all the Algerians supporting us in this game in the same way we supported them [Piala Dunia] 2014,” she explained.
The warmth of Moroccan-Algerian citizens seems surprising given the political situation of the two countries.
In August 2021, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco.
A week before the rupture of relations, Algeria accused Morocco of contributing to forest fires in its country. As a result of this fire, tens of thousands of hectares of forest burned down and 90 people died, including 30 soldiers.
Algiers accuses separatist groups from the Berber region and Rabat of being behind the forest fires.
They also accused the Moroccan-backed Algerian separatist group, the Kabylie Self-Determination Movement (MAK), of being involved in the incident.
The two countries are also at odds over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
Rabat accuses Algiers of supporting the campaign of the Moroccan separatist group Polisario Front to proclaim independence in Western Sahara.
(one/bac)
