Morocco is upset over World Cup
Complaints got loud in Morocco by the press speaking this Thursday about the "arbitrary refereeing" that unfairly deprived Morocco of a more-than-deserved qualification for the second round of the World Cup.
Editorialists and chroniclers pointed an accusing finger at the FIFA (world football's governing body) and U.S. referee Esse Baharmast, who they said generously whistled an imaginary penalty in favor of Norway to help it beat Brazil 2-1 and cruise to the second round instead of Morocco, Map reported.
On that famous Tuesday evening in Saint-etienne, Morocco did everything it could, beating Scotland 3-0 and producing a high-quality football. But Baharmast pulled the rug from underneath Morocco's feet when he opened the way for Norway to go through instead of the North Africans.
"How can we allow referees, who benefit from a regulation that does not match the technological evolution of this turn of the century, to spoil the World football feast and cast doubt on the credibility of FIFA?", wrote "L'Opinion" daily.
For the Moroccan press, the referees' unforgivable mistakes opened a wide scar in the world football body that will not easily heal. The press vehemently denounced the new trend that world football took in this France 98 and in which football scandalously subscribed to the new world order wherein the "small nations should submit to the law of the superpowers."
Beyond the gloomy picture that the U.S referee painted, "L'Opinion" optimistically noted that "In Saint-Etienne, the city of factories and workers, Morocco forged a new destiny."
"Morocco is certainly eliminated. The blow is certainly hard for Moroccans. But we will recover and will come back stronger, more performing, better prepared and always talented," "Al-Maghrib" daily agreed.
"Thanks kids!" wrote "Liberation" daily in a front-page story illustrated with a telling picture showing Morocco's French Coach Michel fatherly holding his proteges in his arms following the undeserved blow from the U.S. referee.
"The most improbable, dubious and ugly scenario robbed us of our victory, spoiled our feast, erased our joy and wrecked our ambitions", the daily wrote.
Two days after the scandal, Henri Michel was still trying to swallow the bitter conspiracy.
"The penalty which gave Norway a victory over Brazil and knocked my team out of the World Cup was scandalous," he said.
"It's a scandal," Michel said when Morocco returned to its training base.
"We have a great feeling of injustice. The players were knocked out. It was very hard to swallow," Michel said. "You can't leave your destiny in the hands of one man."
"You cannot do things like that when you have other people who have worked so long to get to the World Cup. When I see what we did for 90 minutes, I can't accept it. To ruin weeks of work, it's shameful," he stated.
Michel, who led France to the World Cup semifinals in 1986 and Cameroon in an ill-starred campaign in 1994, said he might remain with Morocco if his conditions were met.
Philosophical as he appears, he said the team which he had built virtually from scratch since taking over by the end of 1995 had shown its strength.
"It's a beautiful image, the image of what we've done. That's good because we are a little country and we are a little team," he said.