Tetouan- Moroccan football fans in all the cities of the northern area of the country moved from the suburbs to the city centers today with great anxiety and hope to watch the final of FIFA Club World Cup. Cafes were crowded with people,many with standing room only, hoping to get the chance to watch the game.
Hopeful fans expressed their point of views before the match,expecting a great game.
In a phone call interview, Sabri, a journalist from Cap Radio station in the city of Tangiers, told MWN,“I am going to watch the game at the Radio Station with my colleagues and I expect Raja to win against Bayern in the last minutes of the game.”
One 29 year old taxi cab driver told MWN, “I will have a breakin my shift and turn off my cab. I will go to a caféto enjoy the fiesta with my friends even though I have little hope, because Bayern is a strong team.”
Ali, a 39 year old primary school teacher, told MWN: “I will see the game in a caféwith my friends even though I have a TV subscription in my house. I think it will be hard to anticipate what the result will be. The Raja fans are going to play an important role.”
“I wish good luck to Raja because this occasion will not be repeated again and we will have to wait a long time to see such a historic match as this one again,” added Ali.
During the game and especially in the first half, silence blanketed the cafes and streets as Bayern scored two goals in the first few minutes of the game.
However, hopes were raised during the second half when Raja started playing hard and holding the ball again. The audience was disappointed especially when Raja players missed some good opportunities to score a goal.
At the end of the game, people were disappointed, but happy at the same time. The mood in the cafes was marked by anodd feeling of satisfaction for the opportunity Raja Casablanca had given to all Moroccans to shine.
Hakim, a farmer and a big football fan, told MWN: “I considered it a historic match despite the result, because very strong and famous European teams like FC Barca and Juventus were defeated by a larger score.”
“Raja played a nice game. They made us happy because they are the first team in the Arab world to reach the final of the cup. To play against Bayern, the best team in the world, is a dream we never expected to happen,” a 20 year old university student told MWN.
“Congratulations to Raja, which has realized something that other African and Arab teams were not able to do. This match was tough for Raja because it faced a strong international team that typically defeats the giants of Europe. In the first half,the Raja players were lost, but they came back in the second half and missed some real opportunities,” a 24 construction worker declared to MWN.
