Morocco's soccer team

 

Morocco's soccer team didn’t just win a game against Portugal in FIFA world cup football 2022, it won the hearts of millions of people around the world. It especially won the hearts of the people in the Muslim and Arab world, and what a well-deserved win it was.

While the “victory” and the historical achievement of this team in the Qatar World Cup was hailed worldwide for being the first-ever African/Arab/Muslim team to reach the semifinals, many others celebrated this team for other reasons. As for me, here are my reasons why the Moroccan team won the world already: 1- The underdog story They are different and they brought a breath of fresh air to the World Cup. For some reason, people love the underdog story, and this one is no different. With a united group of humble, individual players and a team manager who took over shortly before the start of the World Cup, the Moroccan team stormed the stadiums and shocked the world with their back-to-back wins. I had to look up the ranking of the team worldwide to see for myself and was shocked by what I found: the Atlas Lions were ranked 22nd coming into the World Cup and are now in the top 4. 2- It unified a divided world, especially the Arab world It was interesting to see how much support the Moroccan team got from Arab and Muslim fans around the world. When even my 12-year-old daughter tells me that in her Islamic school, everyone is becoming Moroccan, it really tells a lot about how much we yearn and look for a unifying factor. People found it in this Muslim/Arab team who didn’t shy away from representing its tradition at international games and on international television. 3- The traditional Muslim values The display of sujood individually and as a team in celebration of their success, their recitation of the Fatiha before the game starts, their hands up for dua at the sideline before every exchange, all of that and more, introduced the entire world to a whole different culture embedded deeply in the practice of faith, Islam. You can still play a good soccer game and show your respect for your faith and tradition. Something all Muslims and most Arabs related to and were proud of. Some might cite the personal lifestyle of some players and negate this whole concept of traditional values, but keep in mind that the messenger of Allah said “Allah may support this religion (i.e. Islam) even with a disobedient man” (Bukhari and Muslim). This is not to say that all (or any) of the players are like this and this is not meant to call out anyone in particular, but the impact of displaying these values was definitely real and clearly obvious. Check social media and you will see. 4- Your mother, your mother The simplicity and spontaneity of some players' reaction to first celebrate their win with their moms was phenomenal. In western culture (i.e. the US), the value of parents, especially in the life of adult children, is no longer as important as it used to be in the generations before. While thinking about parents, and moms in particular, is becoming an afterthought in our culture, Moroccan players brought that sweet human touch back to the spotlight. Family values are constantly under attack in western societies, and these simple gestures by these players gave a boost to these traditional values, values that many could relate to and appreciate. 5- Free Palestine In the past few years, many Arab and Muslim nations chose to abandon the Palestinian cause and the call for a free Palestine. While politics in the Arab world took a sharp turn on the matter, the people remained loyal to a fair and just cause for Palestine and the Palestinian people. When the Moroccan team won the game against Portugal, they chose to celebrate their victory photo with a Palestinian flag on display—a strong message that the Palestinian cause is still alive and will remain so. In conclusion, no matter what the outcome of the upcoming match between Morocco and France is going to be, Morocco has already won. And with fans all around the world, they have won gloriously. @ Words of Sh. Yaser birjas