On Saturday evening, Algeria and Morocco met in the quarter-finals of the Arab Nations Cup. A less political match than it seemed.
Two days after Algeria's victory over Morocco, during the Arab Nations Cup, many media have seized on this match to give it a political dimension. Of Qatar Middle East Eye news organ, who saw it as a "victory for Palestine and Western Sahara", France 24 who believes that "football transcends political tensions", did the media give too much importance to the quarter-final of the Arab Football Cup between Morocco and Algeria, which was, after all, only a simple football match?
The Algeria - Morocco match tomorrow.
It's a simple football game, and the best wins. pic.twitter.com/wwWHhlbUSj- Zeghileche Abdelkrim (@ZeghilecheA) December 10, 2021
This is first of all what should be remembered from the meeting: it kept its promises in terms of football. Fantastic goals, a suspenseful scenario and a victory, at the end of the penalty shoot-out, from Algeria… All the ingredients were there for a nice show. And it is not because the usual holders were not on the lawn that the players have deprived themselves of offering great play.
As for the political aspect, it was blown up by the media which supported the Morocco-Algeria rivalry on the ground, in the same way that the matches between France and Belgium are always played on and off. from the pitch… before the fans become best friends again after 90 minutes.
Lots of sport, and little politics
In 2020, the Algerian Manchester City Riyad Mahrez perfectly summed up this rivalry. “In Paris, when Algeria plays, the guys are not for us. Do you think Moroccans are for us? Perhaps the Tunisians ... But the Moroccans are not for us, eh ", he quipped, before adding that" it is not because they do not like us but because we make too much noise. . We shout and talk too much, we make them proud! "
It is therefore normal that this match, even if it was between A 'teams, attracted attention. Indeed, the meeting was followed, on the YouTube channel of beIN Sport, by nearly 1,6 million people.
What about politics in all of this? She stayed on the sidelines. As we know, sport can sometimes be the illustration of tensions between countries. This has been the case in the past, such as when, in 1968, the Czechoslovakian ice hockey team faced the USSR. Czechoslovakia had won against the Soviet ogre and it had been a real political symbol. Or like when, in 1998, the Iran-United States match was much discussed in the media, but above all presented as "the match of reconciliation".
This Morocco-Algeria of the Arab Nations Cup could wear the same dress: on the lawn, no tension linked to the situation between the two powers was observed. The players gave themselves for their flag, within the limits of football. And this meeting will go down in the annals for the spectacle it offered. And for the brotherhood between the Moroccan and Algerian peoples.