all Liberation articles on France-Morocco – Liberation

From the portrait of Moroccan coach Walid Regragui, to that of his right-back Achraf Hakimi, from the friendship of the latter with Kylian Mbappé to the pride of the Arab world in the face of Morocco’s course, Libé examines Wednesday’s match under all the angles.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui is not short of enthusiasm

Last August, ten years after starting as assistant to the national team, Walid succeeded Vahid (Halilhodzic), fired like a mess after qualifying. Obvious in the country. “There was a consensus around his name. As a coach, he won titles everywhere at FUS Rabat [entre 2014 et 2020] like at Wydad Casablanca [2021-22] where he even took the African Champions League [en juin dernier]. His appointment also allowed the return to favor of Mazraoui, who plays for Bayern Munich, and Ziyech, at Chelsea, two of our best players, who were dismissed by Halilhodzic. Walid has charisma, he knows how to manage egos“, promises Hicham Dmii, the mahout of Moroccan Hopes.

Behind Morocco, the Arab world parades

Will the pressure on the Moroccan team be reduced or, on the contrary, increased by carrying the expectations of hundreds of millions of Arab supporters? From Doha to Gaza and from Idlib to Tunis, via Khartoum and even Algiers, women and men aged 7 to 77 have a rare encounter with hope. This is probably the other historical fact with the accession of the Moroccan selection to this stage of the competition. The excitement of the Arab and African populations in support of the players adopted as their own since the victory against Spain on Tuesday, unsurprisingly, has however reached a phenomenal dimension.

Between Mbappé and Hakimi, it’s a bromance today

As soon as France qualified, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, Achraf Hakimi jumped on his phone to tweet in English and identify Kylian Mbappé: “See you soon my friend.” A few days earlier, the French striker had congratulated the Moroccan right-back for his victory on penalties against his native Spain and published a photo of the two players, arm in arm, taken on the eve of the meeting at the Moroccan training center. The kind of message that the prodigy of Bondy, not one of the most diligent on Twitter, does not publish to anyone.

World Cup 2022: Achraf Hakimi, royal side of Morocco

The 24-year-old Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) full-back grew up in Getafe, on the outskirts of Madrid. His parents, from Oued Zem and Ksar Al-Kébir, near Tangier, arrived in Spain at the end of the 80s. His mother, Fatima, works as a cleaning lady while Hassan, his father, is toiling in the Majadahonda market, in the suburbs of the capital. Mbappé’s future great pal shapes his technique near the family home in the barrio of Las Margaritas before recruiters from Real Madrid came to enlist him in 2006. He has just turned 8 years old.

After the historic qualification of Morocco, in Roubaix, the jubilation of “all of Africa”

Once again, Roubaix capsizes in a whirlwind of joy. “This victory represents all of Africa and all of the Arab people.” Rue de l’Epeule, Omaima, 21, supporter of Morocco, shares her joy with bright eyes. From a sidewalk, she watches the small crowd jubilant with 15-year-old Yasmin. They say : “We just come to have a good time, without overflows.” Others whisper it like a wish. “We don’t want to disturb” Wassim, 13, breathes with a delicate smile.

Larbi Ben Barek, best Moroccan in French football, best Frenchman in Moroccan football

If Olivier Giroud beat that of goals, Hugo Lloris raised that of selections, Antoine Griezmann improved that of assists, one of the records in blue will survive the France-Morocco semi-final and even the 2022 World Cup. mark that Karim Benzema is the closest to exceed is owned by a Moroccan…. Larbi Ben Barek played the first of his matches for the France team on December 4, 1938, the last on October 16, 1954, fifteen years and 317 days later. Either the most important longevity in the France team. It doesn’t matter that he only made 17 caps in this period (three goals). What is more, without ever endorsing French nationality. Moroccan and born Larbi Ben Barek on June 16, 1917 in Casablanca, Moroccan died in the same city on September 16, 1992.

World Cup 2022: a France-Morocco for history

Leïla Slimani recounts in the JDD his passion for football and for the Moroccan team in a remarkable forum. And to specify: “Morocco remains the team of my heart, but I would be happy if France wins.” Well, even if I still agree with her… I would change the order, and I would conclude with: “I would be happy if Morocco wins.” (Wishing the victory of the Blues, of course…) The history of our two countries is so linked that these statements are in fact obvious. But it’s not just the political history of our countries that is linked, it’s also the sporting history and first and foremost that of the France team that makes Wednesday night’s match an extraordinary match.

Mariame Tighanimine: “The story of my worker father from Morocco is a page of national history”

It is the story of a family whose Moroccan father arrived in France in 1963 to work in the mines, and never left. A singular story that tells that of thousands of others – they would be 80,000 Moroccans to have been recruited by a certain Félix Mora who crisscrossed the countryside of the kingdom in order to find labor for the mines of the Houillères des bassins du North and Pas-de-Calais. In Our History of France (Stock), the sociologist Mariame Tighanimine delivers a fascinating family story that follows the trajectory of her father, Lahcen, from the bottom of the mine to the line of the Renault factory in Flins, then that of his brother Jamel, who walks in the working-class footsteps of the father and who did everything to get rid of the image of the young man from the suburbs to which he was constantly brought back. Destiny hampered by the weight of determinisms from which the five sisters will manage to escape.