Jubilant Morocco fans felt the love of the Arab world as their national team caused another World Cup shock by stunning Belgium's golden generation of stars.
The Atlas Lions were roared to a remarkable 2-0 victory by a raucous crowd inside Al Thumama Stadium in Doha on Sunday, leaving their supporters daring to dream of more glory in Qatar.
The well-deserved win — sealed by two second-half goals — was the North African country's first in the tournament for 24 years.
Sitting behind Group F leaders Croatia on goal difference only, they know three points against already eliminated Canada on Thursday will secure a place in the knock-out stages for the first time since 1986.
Beating Belgium was 'extra special'
The momentous win against a team ranked second in the world was made even sweeter by Morocco's strong links with Belgium.
About 500,000 Moroccans live in the European country, making up one of its largest groups of expatriate workers.
Filali Said, a Moroccan who was in Doha with his son, said the stunning success had united the nation.
"This is a huge victory for a lot of Moroccans. There are a lot of Moroccans who live in Belgium, so this one felt extra special," he said.
"I came here with my son and it has been a really wonderful experience.
"A lot of the Moroccans are here together. We flew in from all parts of the world and this whole week has been like a celebration.
"Sunday just feels like the cherry on top."
A 'beautiful dream'
Amin Fares, 40, the general manager of a communication agency in his homeland, flew to Qatar to take in the match with his brother and sister.
“It was a crazy day, we never expected to be at four points after two matches against one or two of the best teams in the world,” he said.
“We know we have great footballers and so many talents in our team but we were expecting a draw."
He paid tribute to the red-hot atmosphere inside the stadium, with spectators from all over the region cheering on the Moroccans as if they were their own team.
“I never expected all this Arab love," he said. "It was mind-blowing to receive so many messages from Arab friends. We felt the love and the respect here in Qatar.”
Mr Fares is hoping Morocco and Saudi Arabia can keep Arab ambitions alive in the competition, with both having their destiny in their own hands with one group match to go.
He said: “Hopefully our team will continue to bring a happy ending to this soccer story with the Saudi team where both manage to make a beautiful dream a reality.”
Relief for nervous fan
The tension was almost too much to bear for Karim Moufdi, 46, a human resources assistant in Sharjah.
“I was so nervous and honestly couldn't focus,” he said.
“But God granted us two goals and our happiness was out of this world.
He said the country's next match would be difficult, but he was buoyed by the support from Arabs all over.
“You wouldn’t believe how much my phone rang and how many messages I received from Arab friends who shared their happiness about the win,” he said.
Ahmed Elmalouli, 40, watched on with fellow Moroccans at the Grand Millennium hotel in Abu Dhabi.
“This was arranged by the Banque Centrale Populaire [a major Moroccan bank] and so many Moroccan people, including Oudadas Abdelillah, the head of the diplomatic delegation at the Moroccan Embassy, came to watch the game.
“In the next match we have our eyes on victory not a draw because we have faith in our strong team."
Morocco bring 'Arab joy'
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, congratulated the magnificent Moroccans on their achievement shortly after the final whistle.
"Atlas Lions, Arab joy [and] Arab pride from the ocean to the Gulf. Congratulations to Morocco," Sheikh Mohammed wrote on Twitter.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, also posted his congratulations on Twitter.
"Congratulations to the Atlas Lions. Congratulations to Morocco. You made all Arabs happy with this result. Your victory is deserved and your performance is heroic," said Sheikh Hamdan.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
