Hundreds of party supporters had gathered at West-Kruiskade and Hofplein. Cars and scooters spun honking their horns and many shots and decorative fireworks were lit. Morocco became the first African country ever to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup on Saturday night.
After a while, the police asked the revelers to leave the centre. Most have responded to this, but a group of pesky supporters have not. The ME then stayed in line for a short while and swept Kruisplein and West-Kruiskade. Police horses were used to disperse the crowds. The ME also swept the intersection of ‘s-Gravendijkwal and 1e Middellandstraat because the supporters they caused a nuisance did not want to leave.
Police made fourteen arrests spread throughout the evening, mainly for lighting heavy fireworks and being unable to show ID. One person was arrested for public assault. Due to the large amount of people, the police had closed Kruisplein and Hofplein to traffic. There was traffic chaos at the intersection of 1e Middellandstraat and Henegouwerlaan.
Houria came to West-Kruiskade with her son and acquaintances to celebrate the victory. “Yesterday we were sad about Holland, but now we are very happy. It is indescribable. We hadn’t anticipated this in advance. Our joy just has to come out. The group has some younger children with them, who are wary of the loud explosions of fireworks that are heard from time to time. “It’s not necessary for all of us.” Will Morocco become world champion now? “Yup!” he says decisively.
Zakaria and Amal also came to Kruisplein with their daughter Nour to celebrate the victory. Zakaria: ,,We are very happy. This is the first time an African country has reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. We are against the unrest and hope it remains pleasant here.”
they were in total on Tuesday they arrested 35 supporters for unrest following the victory of Morocco over Spain. Seven of them had yet to be questioned and received an invitation shortly before kick-off. These suspects had to report to the Rotterdam police station this afternoon before the Morocco-Portugal match. Six suspects complied. The seventh suspect had called in sick.
