Thank You Morocco!

Since the inception of the FIFA World Cup Competition, Africa has been gradually and steadily telling her own story. After several mitigated participations, the Algerian National team the “Fennecs” set the ball rolling by picking Africa’s first second round ticket during the 1982 tournament. In 1990, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon paved the way for Africa’s first quarter-final ticket after humbling a handful of major soccer household names. Their exploit was followed a few years after by Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. Since then, African teams have put up dismal performances. During the 2014 and 2018 editions, the continent’s flag bearers went in as mere participants rather than major actors in a sports discipline that many of their sons do master.
Day-in-day out, many soccer lovers kept expressing the wish to see an African country go beyond the quarter finals and even grab the trophy. Their fervent dreams did not last long. At the ongoing 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Atlas Lions of Morocco have moved their wishes to another stage by qualifying for the semi-final of the competition. Apart from being the first African country to pick a semi-world-cup-ticket, the caliber of teams that the youthful team did send parking is worth a pat-on-the-back. After a sensational group stage during which they conceded only one goal and scored four, the Atlas Lions mapped out strategies with mighty Spain being the first to be crutched in the Lion’s den. Next was Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal before going out of steam against France despite putting up a master show.
For the past two weeks, their performance has kept t...