Doha
For Saudi Arabia and Tunisia to score two stunning World Cup group stage victories Qatar against Argentina, champion, Lionel Messi, and defending champions France, and for Morocco to make historic achievement as the first African or Arab team to reach the semi-finals. This did not come out of nowhere but thanks to stars who made their mark in the finals of the twentieth second edition.
Despite their differences on many issues, none of the Arabs can deny Sofiane Amrabat her leading role in leading Morocco to the historic milestone.
And when Amrabat ran from midfield to catch up with the world’s fastest player from France, Kylian Mbappe, during the semi-final, he caught up with him and snatched the ball from him, he didn’t run with his feet, but rather ran with a brave heart. trying to preserve the historic history of the “Atlas Lions” team in this World Cup.
Morocco eventually lost the match 0-2, but Amrabat earned their place among the best midfielders in the finals.
Since the beginning of the World Cup, Amrabat has not left a place on the field without being present, supported the defense a lot, cut and snatched balls from the players of the competing teams, “cleared” the area in front of the four-line defense and formed a link between defense and attack and confirmed his presence up front by supplying his colleagues with elaborate balls to score.
His continued brilliance has boosted interest from senior clubs across the continent in his services, particularly Liverpool, according to press reports.
Amrabat played in the “epic” match of the final against Spain, “with a painkiller injection for back pain which kept him awake until 3am on the night of the match”.
He commented, “I can’t abandon the players and my country.”
Nobody disputes that Ashraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech are the center of gravity in Morocco due to their European status, but the Qatar World Cup also presented another Moroccan star alongside Amrabat, Azzedine Onahi, this “local product with international qualifications”, according to the description of his coach, Walid Rekraki. French player Angers has played a pivotal role in Morocco’s historic career, but unlike most players, the 22-year-old was founded as a footballer in the local Mohammed VI Academy, and “this is great pride for Moroccan football and a response to the promoters of the idea that Moroccan musicians distinguish themselves thanks to their training in European schools”, according to him reggae. The praise has come from all quarters, most notably from Spain coach Luis Enrique, whose former club Barcelona have shown interest in signing the Moroccan up-and-comer to a contract, according to Spanish newspaper ‘Mundo Deportivo’.
Enrique, who was sacked soon after his suspension, said the player he liked the most was “the player with the number 8 who played amazingly and didn’t stop running”, adding that he had spoken to his coaching staff of him and was surprised at his level.
Muhammad Kno’s dream of being in the World Cup for the second time is almost over due to the fight for him of Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr, who managed to get his signature in a sensational deal, but the former managed soon to convince Kno to renew his contract, so that the player would be subject to disciplinary sanctions with suspension for 4 months and a fine of 12 million riyals and obliging him to return the amount of 27 million riyals to Al-Nassr and depriving Al-Hilal of contracts with players in two registration periods.
Despite the suspension to which Kno was subjected, he maintained the level he is known for, and was not affected by the controversial situation that accompanied him during the summer period, so the World Cup in Qatar started with love at first sight which he contributed to make it at the expense of Lionel Messi and his companions in the Argentina national team (2-1).
The 28-year-old midfielder has shown his credentials as one of the best axis players in Qatar, and has drawn attention to him after the distinguished level he displayed with Al-Akhdar against Argentina and Poland in the opening two matches of the World . Muhammad Kno has been widely praised, both by Saudi and Arab fans and by foreign newspapers, after the prominent role he played against Argentina (2-1) and his success in leading the Saudi midfield in defense and in attack.
But the adventure of the tall player (1.92 m), gifted with great talents, meant that the French coach Herve Renard trusted him as one of the main elements of the Green Falcons battalion, which ended up at the hands of Mexico, who inflicted a second loss in Saudi Arabia and ended his career in the first round.
Tunisia’s away match also ended in the first round, but the “Carthage Eagles” refused to say goodbye to Qatar without a historic result, obtained in the last round at the expense of reigning champion France (1-0).
Tunisia’s chances of qualifying from the second round were diminished by losing to Australia 0-1 after a promising early draw against Denmark 0-0, but presented a combative player in the person of Issa Al-Aidouni who is proud of his Algerian roots and at the same time his affiliation with the Tunisian national team.
Voices were raised in Algeria criticizing the failure to include Hungarian star Ferencváros in the ranks of the “Desert Warriors” squad, while Tunisian newspapers praised Al-Aidouni’s performance thanks to his ball interceptions, movements and to his leadership of his teammates inside the green rectangle in the first round, which allowed him to win the player of the match award.
After the match against Denmark, the 26-year-old said: “I am happy to participate in the World Cup, but the most important thing is the good result the national team has achieved, after which comes the award for best player.”
Al-Aidouni started the dream of participating in the world football festival with the colors of Tunisia, after an important equation in the qualifiers, to restore the trust that coach Munther Al-Kabir and after him Jalal Al-Qadri have placed in him, so that observers describe him as “the man of iron” who does not get tired.
Al-Eidouni was born to an Algerian father and a Tunisian mother, so he became attached to the two countries and became associated with them, and after waiting for an explicit opportunity to join the “Desert Warriors”, he came from the “Carthage Eagles” on March 19, 2021, to participate in the first international match on the 25th of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Libya.
He said at the time: “I’ve had calls from the Tunisian federation, but I hope to play for Algeria.”
Algerian fans have expressed their regret at having missed the opportunity to benefit from the efforts of the midfielder, who has characteristics that are lacking in the national team, especially after the retirement of Adlan Guedioura.
