With what he believes to be an entire continent behind his team, Morocco manager Walid Regragui called on his players to create yet more history against Portugal on Saturday.
The North Africans etched their names in the record books on Tuesday, when they defeated Spain on penalties in Qatar to became the first Arab country to reach a World Cup quarter-final.
In doing so, Morocco now sit alongside Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana as the only African nations to go that deep at a global finals.
However, where their trio of predecessors failed - in 1990, 2002 and 2010, respectively - Morocco’s class of 2022 are determined to stand alone as the only African side to reach the tournament’s semi-finals.
They meet Portugal on Saturday, at what will surely be a partisan support in their favour at Al Thumama Stadium.
“We have nothing to lose,” Regragui told reporters on Friday. “The challenge is to do as well as we did in the previous games.
“We want to show that Africa deserves to be here, Morocco deserves to be here. We have a whole people behind us, a continent behind us, and the Arab world behind us. That's a lot of energy behind us. We're going to try and do everything we can.
“We can do it; we can make history again. [The support] can push us, help us actually to play with this pressure, not to make any mistakes.”
Morocco made the knockouts stages for the first time in 36 years by finishing top of a group that contained Belgium, Croatia and Canada. They defeated Belgium, the world No 2-ranked side, and Canada, and drew with 2018 runners-up Croatia.
In the last 16, Morocco triumphed against Spain in the shoot-out to remain unbeaten. They also boast the best defensive record in the tournament, having conceded once in four matches.
Morocco’s run has led to celebrations not only in Doha and back home, but all around the world, especially in countries where the Morocco diaspora live.
"People are identifying with us and we've managed to unite Moroccans behind this football team," Regragui said. "I think that's worth more than anything, it's worth more than money, it's worth more than titles.
"We've made people happy, we've made people proud. But that's not the only reason we're here - we're here to win matches and go as far as we can in this tournament."
Morocco, though, go into the encounter with Portugal sweating on a lot of potential key absentees. Against Spain, centre-back Nayef Aguerd was taken off injured and will be assessed ahead of Portugal, while captain Romain Saiss and midfield lynchpin Sofyan Amrabat are also carrying knocks.
“We're not going to hide it, we're tired,” Regragui said. “But when you go this far in the tournament you have to count on everybody in the squad. So if Nayef cannot play then someone else will have to take his place. We won’t be looking for excuses, we are here on a mission.
"Lots of injuries, people sick. We've played lots of games without people 100 percent. I'm proud for that because nobody has seen Morocco at 100 percent power, but mentally we are strong.”
On Portugal, Regragui said: “It’s a big challenge against one of the best teams in the world. They could field two or three high-quality teams at this World Cup.
“They might be a bit fresher than our guys. I’m not sure if Cristiano Ronaldo plays but I hope he doesn’t. He’s one of the greatest ever and I’d be delighted if he didn’t play against us.”
Regragui, who was appointed only three months ago, added: “We’ve already proven all the data analysts wrong about Belgium’s chance and Spain too. They all thought we’d lose to them.
“We have already achieved great things, but we feel it’s not enough. We want to go further.”
Meanwhile, Portugal manager Fernando Santos said he has been impressed with Morocco to this point, but backed his players to cope with the pressure of contesting a World Cup quarter-final.
"This is a very difficult moment for the players," he said. "They are all at the final phase of the tournament - but, then, this is normal for these players who play for big clubs in top leagues and in the Champions League.
"We have a situation that is exactly the same - anxiety, reaching the final, winning the final....
"I saw so much passion for Morocco in their last game. Passion for their team, for attacking the opponent. We have to deal with that and play well, to put into practice what we are trying to do."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Manchester United v Liverpool
Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
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Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
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