When, against all odds, Morocco reached the round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 World Cup —the Arab World Cup, the Islamist World Cup—, the photographs of the international press agencies not only showed the party in Rabat; They were also filled with images of massive celebrations in various cities in Europe. Turin, in northern Italy, was one of them.
The party was not only then. In the pass to the semifinals, in the capital of Piedmont, thousands of Moroccans and other Africans and Arabs filled the streets of Barriera di Milano and Aurora, “immigrant” neighborhoods, as some describe them quickly and badly; immigrants, even though many of them were born on the peninsula.
Morocco is the only Arab and African team that has reached this far in a World Cup; will face France. Today the surroundings of the largest open market in Europe, Porta Palazzo, were filling with red flags; the same hanging from a balcony as knotted on the shoulders of men of all ages.
Kahiri, for example, must not be more than 7 years old. She was walking quickly with her mother, Saná, to look for her sister. She was wearing a superhero flag-cape, right down to her feet, “because I’m Moroccan.”
—Were you born in Morocco? I asked him in the few seconds of our chat.
—No, but I’m Moroccan anyway.
—What do you expect from the match?
—That we win 3 to 0.
—Tell him: I’m going to Morocco even though my dad is Egyptian —Saná intervened smiling, before closing with a “Strength, Morocco” and consenting to take a picture of them, only from behind.
Saif, 26, was also born in Italy, and is also “Moroccan anyway.” He is “very excited about this game, because it is a game for Africa, and also for the Arab and Muslim continent. We pray to God that we can keep going until the final.”
“My parents are Moroccan and they have always taught me to be connected to my roots. Moroccans, as Hassan II, the old king, says, will be able to integrate the first generation; but the second and third will be closely linked to their origin. Honestly I feel more Moroccan than Italian; What’s more, I don’t define myself as Italian, I define myself as Turin. That: I am a Moroccan from Turin! ”, He says as if shouting Eureka!
With a group of friends and family he planned to go to Morocco, but the tickets sold out very soon. “I would have liked to experience the environment there; but hey, we create the environment for ourselves. I will watch the game at home, with my parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, my niece… All Moroccans. We will do our part to support the team; but God is with them; God is with them.”
Ibrahim is 39 years old and has a bag of breath: “If we have come this far, it is because they have done a tremendous job. The technician arrived three months ago. ohThree months! In any case, fourth place would be enough for us. It is Africa, it is the Arab world that celebrates having come so far. I would like to be in Morocco to see it; but my economic situation did not allow it (I am not someone who is asking for help from the State; I have always looked for what to occupy myself with). But for us Morocco, the homeland, is something that no one can describe. It’s not a choice: we were born that way. The beauty of Italy is that I feel at home. The atmosphere for me is like Morocco; It has become normal for us. There is racism, yes, but it is what is called “cold” racism. Cold racism is that of people who don’t like you, but don’t show it to you.”
Ibrahim is a mechanic, but during the World Cup —and taking advantage of the drop in temperatures— he has dedicated himself to selling scarves in the colors of his flag. At 10 euros each; two for 15. he had them made in Milan, a couple of hours by train from here. Moroccan scarves “Made in Italy”. After a couple of hours standing at the entrance to the central market, he had sold “little or nothing. People are more for the flags than for the scarves », he laments.
This is confirmed by Mustapha, the tailor who has been commissioned by more than fifty since the Cup began. Today, “because of Morocco”, he will have to watch the game on his cell phone, sitting in front of his sewing machine to make deliveries in time. Hopefully, he says, the time for his flags doesn’t run out tonight and some buyer can get it out next Sunday. He has faith: “I expect a 2-0 against France; Because we have reached a point of no return. We don’t stop until the Final with the Cup”.
“Since we got past the first few games, everything has been gain. Even if it’s France. None of us are afraid. If the players themselves, who are little boys, have said it, imagine us; that we are older but they are wiser. We are very pleased that an African team has come so far. And also the whole Arab world is with the team. It is a pleasure. Seeing your flag in so many countries is moving. I have been in Italy for 23 years, but even if the Italian national team played against the Moroccan team, I would go to Morocco. I am a citizen of Italy on paper; but in the blood I am Moroccan. I’m not fake; We are not traitors.”
“We have lived the most beautiful moment of our lives,” he says. “In my family we were born poor children; everything we have achieved and created remains in our mind. It’s not like here, where a child wants something and they buy it; we had to build it with our hands, create it. I have been a tailor since I was 11 years old; a job that is neither easy nor difficult.
They have managed to finish most of the orders. Some flags have made them complete and others have bought and modified them in part. The trail of fabrics and scraps seems to him and his brother, who owns the business, a reason not to allow me to take a photo. “Only from this fund with the threads. But I take off ”, insists Mustapha.
Rachid, 44, closes his shoe stall in Porta Palazzo to arrive early at the “Arab bar” where he will watch the game near Republic Square. If they win, Rachid will celebrate twice:
“I am very happy and I hope we will send France home. I have nothing against France, it’s just that we have something that makes us want to beat France in particular. At the political level we have our stuff“he says about the country of the language he learned at school as a second language.
Since 2007 he has been in Italy. “But I’m leaving. I return to Morocco. I have spent years here and I cannot feel Italy as my home. Today, in fact, I would like to be there living this. I have hope that there will come a day when I can watch Morocco play in the World Cup from there. It will be more beautiful”.
Jamal, 54 years old, who has lived in Turin for more than 22 years, talks to a small customer from his pizzeria. Aron asks for “the usual”, this time with the only change being the white sauce. “No white sauce today then?” confirms Jamal. Aron is not Moroccan, but his favorite pizza chef is, so he goes to Morocco; for Jamal and “because they took Spain out.”
Jamal hung a flag in his business because in this World Cup his country’s team has made him feel “in seventh heaven”. For him it’s just a game, and that’s why he likes it: “I just hope it’s a nice game to watch.” He will see him at his house, on the sofa, perhaps eating pizza made Moroccan and not Italian. Which is better? I asked him. “I don’t know He told me with a wide smile.You have to ask your customers that.”
Abraamo (“like the prophet”, he introduces himself) has lived 42 of his 68 years in Italy; but he speaks in Arabic his two very young employees of his while preparing a move. He complains that “the superiors always win: Germany, France, Portugal… ohOnce even if Africa wins! So that the poor, those who don’t have possibilities, feel that they can too”. Even so, he seals with an ecumenical and harmonious message: “But we want all peoples equal; we are happy with any town that wins a match, whatever it is”.
In Turin the Moroccan community is the second largest after the Romanian. Tonight in the city 30,000 souls will stop for 90 minutes to accompany the fate of their loved ones on the field. After, inshallah, the party will come. I hope to see her, I’m ready: I have the red-green scarf that Ibrahim insisted on giving me.
