New Yorkers flood Queens streets to celebrate Morocco's World Cup win
NEW YORK -- A history-making match at the World Cup sent an African nation to the semifinals for the first time Saturday as Morocco beat out the star-studded Portugal team 1-0.
The masses descended on the Little Morocco restaurant in Queens to share in the celebration and send a shockwave of energy their family and friends could feel all the way around the globe.
"We gotta change the name. It's gonna become Big Morocco now," restaurant owner Driss Lazhar said.
Crowds took over Steinway Street to commemorate the momentous moment Morocco moved ahead to the World Cup semifinals.
For Moroccan natives, this victory means more than a game.
"The economy is so bad, a little bit, and people are so depressed a little bit. This takes that joy and makes them happy and forget this crisis," Lazhar said.
Played out on the pitch, a history of colonization, contentious between continents, each country having occupied the other as far back as the Eighth Century.
As the Atlas Lions advanced, soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo walked away in tears.
"They've experienced a lot of racism and discrimination, and I think it's an opportunity for us to be able to express ourselves, to heal and to just have a chance to, like, fight in a way that's through the sport," Morocco fan Mahmoud Khedr said.
"A lot of the historical trauma and pain, all that stuff, they can just let it out," Morocco fan Aziz Ramos said.
Morocco now represents an entire continent on its conquest.
On Wednesday, the team will take on France, who knocked England out of the competition Saturday afternoon.
"It's a small African country. Usually you see Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, the big names. We beat Spain, we beat Portugal, and we're gonna beat France," Morocco fan Nizar Giardina said. "They colonized our country for at least 100 years, so having a little bit of revenge would be nice, you know."
This historic Moroccan mission has the support of an entire continent and culture.
"It was really wonderful to see all these flags from all the countries, the Muslim countries, the Arabs, the Africans. Everyone was here celebrating the victory just like it's their own," said Mohamed Attia, director of the Street Vendor Project with the Urban Justice Center. "It means a lot for the Muslim community to see the ways that we can unite together and how much we have in common, how much people come together to celebrate and just have each other's back."
This fight is far from over. The Moroccans will only face tougher teams on their determined drive toward victory, already making history.
