A country that was the butt of jokes a month ago is now a regional hero
is almost too much for a single football match. A former colonial power will defend its title against the country it once occupied. Some members of one squad could just as well play for their opponents in a clash of hyphenated identities. The underdogs embraced a symbol of regional struggle as their own, even as their countrymen argued about whether they truly belonged to that region.
Morocco’s Africanness is not up for debate . Walid Regragui, the coach, hailed the quarter-final win over Portugal as a victory for the continent. “I told the guys before the match we had to write history for Africa,” he said. Yet some Moroccans are uncomfortable with the label. A plurality are of Berber descent, and to some Arabism implies an erasure of their identity. Tamazight, the Berber tongue, was long relegated to second-tier status. It was only made an official language in 2011, part of a package of constitutional reforms rushed through to placate the public during the Arab spring.
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