The successful performance of the Moroccan team at the World Cup held in Qatar can be explained by the fact that most of the team's players grew up and received a football education in Europe. Russian sports journalist Alexander Prosvetov presented the central phenomenon of the Moroccan national team's success.
According to the journalist, there is, of course, a particular phenomenon. You have to talk about the excellent defensive organization when a team concedes one goal in five games against none other than the strong teams of Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. Morocco is not remarkably different in attack, but the team defense is iron.
"It is very relative that Walid Regraghi, the head coach of the Moroccan national team, is considered a local specialist because he was born in France and played in French clubs: Toulouse, Ajaccio." By and large, he is a French specialist, Prosvetov emphasized. "The team has several stars. It is not a gray team that performs successfully. Ashraf Hakimi plays for "PSG"; Sofian Amrabat - for "Fiorentina"; Hakim Ziesh and Nusair Mazraoui; former players of "Ajax," now "Chelsea" and "Bavaria," goalkeeper Yassin Bunu and striker Youssef en Nesiri play coming in "Seville." In other words, they are not new names."
Prosvetov agrees that parallels can be drawn between the teams of Morocco and Greece, which in 2004 won the European Championship, conceding four goals in the group stage and not conceding a single goal in the playoffs.
The specialist notes that the Moroccan national team is an organized team with stars: Ziesh, and Hakim, who moved from Real Madrid to French PSG.
"The team also has a good bench. Nayef Agher was injured against the Spaniards, and Mazraui fell ill, but they found suitable replacements to fill the gaps. Let's remember that Morocco always performs strongly in African Cups. For example, this year "Vidad" from Casablanca won the African Champions League," the sports journalist noted.
"Partially, this team reflects the idea of moving to Europe. 13 students are European Children's and Youth School students. Others may play for various European clubs but are Moroccan football fans, first and foremost Vida. Another thing is that a Moroccan, moving to Europe, finds a massive community of compatriots and feels at home in many countries, first of all in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.
In the 1960s, a convention was signed between Belgium and Morocco that Morocco would supply labor to Europe. The idea was that people would be trained in various professions, and they would return to rebuild Morocco. But the reality was that they stayed," Alexander Prosvetov concluded.
