16 years ago, a Moroccan soccer player dreamed of the “Atlas Lions” team reaching the semi-finals, and then to the final match in the World Cup, and in 2022 this dream has become incredibly close to achieving.
Although the events of this dream came in Moroccan filmHe presented the year 2006, the year in which Morocco failed even to qualify for the World Cup in Germany, but he was able, it seems, to predict what would happen in the World Cup in Qatar following the national team was on a date with a match in the semi-finals already on the ground.
The events of the movie “Wake Up Morocco” by Moroccan director Nargess Al-Najjar revolve around a former soccer player, played by actor Hassan Skali, who dreams that Morocco will organize the World Cup and that the national team will reach the final, amidst massive public celebrations.
It is also remarkable that the film featured the current coach of Morocco, Walid Regragui, who was part of the team’s squad for the semi-final match.
With the real semi-final match approaching, next Wednesday, once morest France, the director and author of the film, Narges Al-Najjar, wrote in her Instagram account: “18 years ago, I dreamed of this victory for Morocco. 18 years ago, I directed a film in which Walid Regragui participated.. I always knew that my country might do anything.”
Al-Najjar, born in 1971 in Tangiers, Morocco, is a director and screenwriter who lives in France, where she continued her studies and wrote and directed a number of films.
The “Atlas Lions” are now awaiting only one victory, once morest the French national team, to reach the final, and two wins to crown the Cup in Qatar and achieve a spherical “miracle” that no one might have imagined before the victory of the Qatar World Cup.
The “Atlas Lions” beat Belgium 2-0 and Canada 2-1 in the group stage, then defeated Spain 3-0 on penalties in the round of 16, before achieving a surprise victory over Portugal in the quarter-finals. The team’s goal has not been shaken during the tournament so far, with only one goal, which came with “friendly fire”.
Morocco became the first African and Arab team to reach the World Cup semi-finals since the first edition of the tournament in 1930.