By Gareth James
Osian Roberts knew Morocco would make an impact at this World Cup – he just didn’t know it would be this huge.
The Welshman who was a key part of the Wales set-up as assistant manager when Chris Coleman was in charge, spent three years as Morocco’s technical director before returning to the UK to join Crystal Palace last year.
Roberts was viewed by many as the obvious choice to take over from Coleman after the pair had guided Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016, but the FAW – an organisation who craved the spotlight afforded by celebrity – instead went for Ryan Giggs.
So, Roberts took himself to North Africa and helped shape Moroccan football to the extent that they now stand on the threshold of an astonishing appearance in the World Cup final if they can overcome France in Qatar on Wednesday night.
“It wasn’t just a wish or a dream,” Roberts has told The Guardian.
“There was a plan behind it in order to achieve success. For me it was just a wonderful opportunity to develop football further in Morocco and become one of the leading nations in Africa that everybody could aspire to work towards.
“It almost felt like an obligation for me to jump on the bus and drive it forward.
It's now been 10 years since the first class of Académie Mohammed VI graduated. The national academy project, inaugurated by the King, has produced the likes of Youssef En-Nesyri, Azeddine Ounahi and Nayef Aguerd – all crucial for #MAR this tournament. https://t.co/SaFV3oopxp
— Maghrib Foot (@MaghribFoot) December 10, 2022
“Morocco is very serious about its football and the level of investment over the last 10 years has been quite astounding.
“Some of these players at the World Cup have graduated from the Mohamed VI youth academy but since then the national training centre has been built and was inaugurated by the king while I was there.
“It’s an unbelievable facility that is as good as anything in the world. At the same time they have opened five regional centres for the best boys and girls in the country.
“I just felt the level of expectation needed to be raised because of the infrastructure and the talent that exists in the country.
“Having worked with Wales for such a long time, we went from 117th in the world to eighth and then managed to sustain it with good planning and a vision of where we wanted to go. Likewise for Morocco now – this can’t be a one-off.”
Fourteen of Morocco’s 26-man squad were born outside the country, more than any other team at the tournament in Qatar, providing an eclectic mix of players from growing migrant communities across Europe who have helped them break new ground.
The shock 1-0 quarter-final win over Portugal on Saturday made Morocco the first African and Arab country to reach the last four of a World Cup.
https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1601626489111265281
Canadian-born goalkeeper Younes Bounou has conceded only one goal, Madrid-born Achraf Hakimi has been outstanding on the right flank, Dutch-born Sofyan Amrabat a powerful midfield enforcer and French-born Sofiane Boufal a menace on the left.
Finding eligible players in countries like Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain is now a structured exercise, as opposed to the haphazard system when the first foreign-born Moroccans competed for the national team at the 1998 World Cup in France.
Moroccans are one of the largest migrant populations in Europe, estimated at some five million, and have close ties with the country. A study by the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad, a government agency, concluded that 61% of Moroccans in Europe between the ages of 18 and 35 visit the kingdom every year.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has talent scouts dotted around Europe and move quickly when there is a potential clash of loyalties.
Dutch-born Hakim Ziyech had talks with both the Moroccans and Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman about which country he would commit his international future to before deciding on Morocco.
https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1602362656521965568
Amrabat, who like Ziyech represented the Netherlands at junior level, switched allegiance for family reasons.
“My parents are Moroccan and my grandparents are Moroccan. Every time I go there I can’t describe the feeling inside me in words, it’s my home. The Netherlands is also my home, but Morocco is special,” he said.
“The players are approached very early in order to attract them to the Moroccan side. We never force things, it’s an honest discussion with the player and his family,” explains Noureddine Moukrim, a youth coach in Belgium who scouted for Morocco for nine years.
But there are doubters about the policy, who feel this assiduous courting of overseas-born players retards opportunity for home-born footballers.
“Before this World Cup we had a lot of problems about the guys born in Europe and guys not born in Morocco and a lot of journalists said, ‘Why don’t we play with guys born in Morocco?’,” said coach Walid Regragui, himself a former foreign-born international.
“Today we have shown that every Moroccan is Moroccan. When he comes to the national team he wants to die, he wants to fight. As the coach, I was born in France, but nobody can have my heart for my country.”