00:04African football took one giant leap at Qatar 2022,
00:09when Morocco became the continent's first representative to reach a World Cup semi-final.
00:17Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana had all previously reached the quarter-finals,
00:21but the Atlas Lions broke new ground by making the Final Four.
00:25These are indeed proud moments and a proud period for football on the African continent,
00:35taking into account the performance of all of our five national teams
00:42that were representing Africa at the FIFA World Cup Qatar,
00:47and in particular the historic achievements of Morocco
00:54that has made all of us exceptionally proud.
00:57They've made all of us in Africa uniquely proud.
01:03Morocco qualified with ease via the often treacherous CAF route,
01:08and there was considerable excitement at the prospect of participating in a nearby Arab nation.
01:17Pride. Pride and happiness like the rest of the Moroccans here with the Moroccan community and our Qatari brothers.
01:24We were very happy yesterday with the well-deserved qualification of the Moroccan national team.
01:29Today we are happy to raise the Moroccan flag among the flags of the qualified countries.
01:34I hope that the Moroccan national team's participation will be effective and successful in the World Cup.
01:42Before Qatar, Morocco had only won two matches in finals history
01:46and only once progressed beyond the first round back in 1986.
01:53But the head coach throughout qualifying, Vahid Halil Hojic, had high expectations.
02:00We must prepare this team well to win the World Cup one day.
02:05Even if that sounds too much, we can say we tried.
02:09There will be ways to achieve it.
02:11But if the group doesn't believe, you have no chance.
02:16That's what I'm talking about.
02:18I insist on the collective spirit.
02:20If there is not that, there will be nothing.
02:26But Halil Hojic was fired between qualifying and the finals.
02:30Remarkably, this was the third time this had happened in the Bosnians' career.
02:36Waleed Regregi was handed the reins and also an imposing group phase assignment,
02:42having been drawn alongside Belgium, Croatia and Canada.
02:47But after an opening round stalemate with Croatia,
02:50Morocco set the tournament alight by downing the fancied Belgians 2-0.
02:55They backed up that victory with a 2-1 triumph over Canada,
02:59cementing their status as group winners.
03:04Morocco arrived in Qatar with a clutch of players at home at the highest level.
03:09The likes of Hakim Ziyech,
03:11Akraf Hakimi,
03:14Sofyan Amrabat,
03:16Nusair Mazraoui,
03:19Yosef Nnesiri
03:20and Yassine Bunou.
03:24And it was Sevilla goalkeeper Bunou who was instrumental in Morocco extending their tournament,
03:30saving two penalties in a shootout to knock out European giant Spain.
03:36After 36 years, we're making history again, and we've celebrated it.
03:44We've been very happy, dancing and celebrating in the locker room.
03:48These days have been unforgettable and indescribable.
03:55Those unforgettable days continued,
03:58with Nnesiri scoring the decisive goal to dispense of Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal
04:03and make African football history.
04:07The Atlas Lions were the pride of the World Cup.
04:10I think they're a very solid team, very difficult to move.
04:19Defensively, we see a great solidarity.
04:23They write the history of Moroccan football,
04:26so it's such a collective force that emerges.
04:33They have had performances that gave them a lot of confidence.
04:38It's a team that is united.
04:41And here, I think, they have weapons also offensively,
04:46whether on counter-attacks, on set-pieces,
04:51or on individual actions.
04:54They have quality players.
05:00Morocco's semi-final opponents had to be France,
05:04a country with whom there is so much shared football culture.
05:11It's more than a dream.
05:13It's incredible.
05:14It's national pride.
05:16It's historical what we are doing for our football
05:18and the lessons that we are giving ourselves.
05:20We are not seeing life as before.
05:22This changed our mindset.
05:25We are hanging from the lips of our coach.
05:27We can make it.
05:28We might not have the same chances in-game.
05:31We might not have the same infrastructure.
05:33We might not have anything to make it.
05:35But with a lot of heart and a lot of blessing, we will.
05:44But the defending champions proved too strong,
05:46ending the fairy tale at the penultimate hurdle.
05:51Deflated, Morocco failed to rouse themselves against Croatia
05:55in the third-place playoff.
05:59But the squad returned home to a hero's welcome nonetheless.
06:03And the last.
06:032
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