After 25 years, Wydad Casablanca has won the African Champions League, with a victory against Al-Ahly Cairo.
Nearly 60,000 people were crammed into the Mohammed V Stadium yesterday, as the celebrations took over the city after the locals have won 1-0, by a goal by Walid El-Karti.
In terms of football, the game itself was not brilliant (to say the least). It was an intense, aggressive and stressed football match, but that's not the story here. Not at all.
The story is Wydad. A club that has been improving dramatically in recent years, setting a new standard for clubs from North Africa and made millions of Moroccans proud, in The country itself, in Europe and in general. On Saturday night in Paris and across the Netherlands, people were celebrating until dawn.
The story is Wydad’s fans, which dazzled the viewers' ears with an inspiring singing, full of hope and courage, that filled every listener with vibrations, all the way to the celebrations in Mohammed V Square, Casablanca.
The story is the Moroccan obsession for winning trophies & glory, which joins the World Cup qualifier in Abidjan against the Ivory Coast next week. After it, they will be able to return to the World Cup after almost 20 years.
The story here is Al-Ahly, who against the stats and history of the mega-club it is, managed to lose a game that they could’ve won twice in the first half, but instead cried in the final whistle.
The story here is the endless passion for football that we see from Africa and the Middle East. It always connects to the story of a city, a country, a nation or people.
Mabrouk ya Wydad, good luck Morocco.