The Moroccan authorities, in various cities of the country, are continuing their preparations to receive the crowds of fans who will follow the Morocco-France match, in the streets and public squares.
The local authorities installed giant screens in the most prominent squares and streets of major cities, to enable Moroccans to follow the most important match played by their national team in its history, when it meets the French national team in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar.
And officials of a number of regions and regions in Morocco began, a few days ago, to search for large screens to install in public spaces, to facilitate public follow-up to the decisive match that takes place on Wednesday evening, according to the website. Hespress the local.
According to the same source, local officials have intensified their preparations to organize this “soccer wedding”, by contracting with companies specialized in the field of renting equipment and activating parties to enable them to have giant screens to broadcast the matches.
The authorities directed instructions to provide security personnel, auxiliary forces and local authority men, to ensure that the match-following atmosphere passes in good conditions and to avoid some fans leaving the circle of peaceful encouragement, according to the same source.
In France, the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, announced, on Tuesday, the deployment of 10,000 police throughout France, including 5,000 in Paris, in preparation for the France-Morocco match.
Darmanin added that the Champs-Elysees Avenue will not be closed to traffic, despite a request from the district’s mayor.
However, the minister indicated that a large part of the gates of the ring road surrounding Paris will be closed as of 6:30 pm on Tuesday, in addition to many train and subway stations.
Morocco’s progress in the World Cup finals saw noisy celebrations by its supporters in cities with large numbers of Moroccan immigrants around the world, including the French capital, Paris.
Morocco’s victory over Belgium in the group stage sparked riots in Brussels, and video footage showed fans lighting fireworks and throwing furniture and other objects in the center of Milan.
And the Italian police announced, a few days ago, that they had arrested 13 far-right activists in Verona, on charges of assaulting Moroccan fans who were celebrating their country’s historic qualification for the World Cup quarter-finals, after their victory over Spain.
showdown
And the “Atlas Lions” will face, this evening, Wednesday, the French national team, in drawing the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, after they created a big surprise, after topping the first group that included Belgium, Canada and Croatia, and beating Spain in the final price and the companions of Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarter. .
Morocco needs a black roar in order to continue its fictional story in the World Cup in Qatar, when it meets France, the defending champion full of stars, on Wednesday at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, in the first semi-final in history to be contested by an African or Arab country.
And the “Atlas Lions” live a dream that Africans and Arabs have drawn to, and every country that is not confident in itself in the competition with the adults, and if it skips the 1998 and 2018 champions, it will set a date in Sunday’s final with Argentina, “the flea” Lionel Messi, who qualified on Tuesday, easily at the expense of Croatia 3-0.
Morocco started the tournament with a positive indicator when it tied negatively with Croatia, the runner-up of the last edition, and since then it has achieved victories that its players or the people of the country on the outskirts of the European continent could not dream of.
The Moroccan national team defeated Belgium for the third World Cup 2018 with two goals to zero, then Canada with two goals to one, then strong Spain with a penalty shootout in the final price, all the way to Portugal, the candidate to compete with a goal for free.
“Progressive performance of glaucoma”
But the opponent this time is different, as the French team, in turn, presents an upward performance that makes it a natural candidate to overtake Morocco in the first official confrontation between them in a major tournament.
Rarely did a champion retain his title after four years, the last of which was Brazil Pele in 1962, but France, with its experienced coach Didier Deschamps, knew how to overcome all the bumps to reach the semi-finals.
It is difficult to imagine that a team devoid of injuries, players such as striker Karim Benzema, the best player in the world, midfielders N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, full-back Luca Hernandez, striker Christopher Nkunku, defender Prisnel Kimpembe and goalkeeper Mike Mignan, do not seem affected at all and achieve victory after victory.
The French national team secured its qualification to the second round, after two victories over Australia 4-1 and Denmark 2-1, before losing with its reserves to Tunisia with a goal.
In the playoffs, he was firm with an easy 3-1 victory over Poland, before overcoming the most difficult entitlement against his powerful English neighbors 2-1.
Once again, Kylian Mbappe appears to be the most dangerous element in the “blue” squad, with five goals at the top of the scorer’s ranking, equally with Messi, and behind them striker Olivier Giroud, an amateur to score goals from difficult and sometimes impossible positions, while there is doubt about the participation of defender Daewoo Obamecano and midfielder Adrien Rabiot for injury. .
However, the “Moroccan dream” is capable of changing many equations, including the French plan, if the success factors are available to the players of coach Walid Rekragui, who implanted in the heads of his players the mentality of winning and not confronting the “giants” of the game without inferiority.
“If we keep in mind that our participation is successful by reaching the semi-finals and we are happy, we will not continue our journey. We are among the four best teams in the world, and this is no coincidence, and we will have the say Tomorrow for the final.
“Find the solution”
On the other hand, Deschamps, seeking to be crowned for the third time in the World Cup after 1998 as a player and 2018 as a coach, seemed calm before facing an unusual team, his spirits that reached the clouds qualify him to fight any opponent, even if it included the likes of Mbappe, Jiro, Antoine Griezmann, Osman Dembélé and others … “I will We find a solution, but this (Moroccan) team has the ability to defend very well.”
A defense that was shaken only once in five matches, and it came with a reverse goal by Nayef Akrad in the match against Canada.
Ironically, Akrad may miss the semi-finals due to an injury that kept him out of the quarter-finals of Portugal and Tuesday’s exercises, to which full-back Naseer Mazraoui and defense captain Roman Sayes returned.
Injuries, instead of causing the Moroccans to be prohibited, opened the door to the brilliance of the substitutes wide, similar to Jawad Al-Yamiq and Yahya Atiyatallah.
Morocco is counting on the “twelfth player”, who may play a major role in the journey to reach the final: the waves of red fans supporting him were the most vocal in the tournament with the Argentine fans, given the large community supporting him in Qatar, in addition to the start of 30 flights between Casablanca and Doha. To support Hakim Ziyech, Ashraf Hakimi and Youssef Al-Nusairi, the hero of the winning goal against Portugal.
France’s goalkeeper Loris feared “hostile fans in a stadium that can accommodate about seventy thousand spectators,” while the French police are preparing for riots that may accompany the match in various cities, but this match, “full of symbols,” according to La Provence newspaper, must “remain a match.” Football, even if it is linked to history, and has a lot of passion,” according to Deschamps.