‘It was beautiful.’ Triangle Arab community unites in Morocco’s historic World Cup run

Gathered around a small television Wednesday afternoon, a crowd representing the Triangle’s Arab and Muslim community watched Morocco play France in the FIFA World Cup.

The gathering was held at a fitting place for this semifinal match: an Arab-owned French bakery.

Usually open only on the weekends, La Recette Patisserie in Durham opened up due to popular demand as the community sought a gathering place to support Morocco, the first ever African and Arab nation in history to reach the World Cup semifinals.

“The World Cup started in 1930,” said Fadi Ghanayem, who opened La Recette with his wife, Djamila Bakour, in October. “I feel like it also united the Arab world. Everybody’s raising that flag and everyone is just happy for Morocco, and that’s something we haven’t seen in a while.”

Morocco was a tournament surprise, besting European giants like Spain and Portugal in the knockout stage and Belgium in the group stage, prompting the praise of Arab nations who felt represented and unified by their impressive undefeated run.

“We are the Rocky Balboa of this World Cup,” Morocco coach Walid Regragui told media outlets after ousting the Portuguese.

Spirits were high Wednesday at the Durham bakery as a crowd of about 50 gathered to watch the hugely anticipated semifinal match. While Morocco trailed, they still cheered on the national team — known as The Atlas Lions — as they faced off against France, the reigning world champion.

They cheered in Arabic and screamed at different moments, many of them holding flaky French pastries and coffee cups in their hands.

“It actually means a lot to us to come as a Muslim community, as an Arab community ... to come together and just be able to watch a game,” Bakour said. “It is a place for us to come together. It’s a place for us to embrace our cultures, to accept our differences.”

The breakout World Cup underdogs put up a fight, but ultimately lost 2-0. France will now face Argentina in the final this Sunday in host country Qatar.

Arab community unites

The spirit of international Arab solidarity is embraced by La Recette’s owners; Bakour is Algerian and Ghanayem is from Palestine.

During halftime, the fans at the bakery paid no attention that Morocco was down 1-0 against France. Women decked out in the flag’s green and red danced and sang to traditional Moroccan party music, waving flags and cheering.

Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam was among the crowd, who came with her father, who is from India.

“We’re celebrating Morocco as a country, but they also represent so much for us being a Muslim nation, being an African nation. ... That kind of camaraderie brought us together,” Allam said.

The game had an extra layer of excitement because of its historical context. Morocco took on the powerful team of the country that once occupied it. France is a former colonial power of several North African countries, and Morocco claimed its independence from French rule over 60 years ago.

This history “is a very touchy subject” for Bakour, since her native Algeria was ruled by France for over a century.

“I’m getting emotional a little bit because I’m from Palestine,” said Ghanayem. “But it just tells you how people can move on and just have a friendly soccer game and just enjoy.”

Still down by a goal in the second half of the game, families and children cheered on as the Moroccan strikers made numerous advances toward the French goalkeeper during the match.

Moroccan native Dikir Erreda, of Chapel Hill, watched quietly with high hopes.

“What the Moroccan team did until now is amazing. No one expected this,” said Erreda. “If you see now, you can find here Algerians, Tunisians, Egyptians. That’s what amazing in soccer.”

A lost match, history made

The crowd’s high spirits waned later as France scored a second goal and the game finished two hours after it started.

But for Khalid Meddiki, the loss couldn’t take away the fact that Morocco had made history.

“It was a good game,” said Meddiki, of Chapel Hill, who rooted for his country’s team. “But it’s never happened like this before.”

Elsewhere in the Triangle, others were also excited for the historic matchup.

“Everybody is rooting for that moment of joy,” Abdelkader Rahmaoui, who owns Casablanca, a Moroccan halal meat market in Cary, told The News & Observer.

Rahmaoui said the local community has been gathering at mosques in Raleigh and Apex to root for the Moroccans, including at St. Paul’s Christian Church in Raleigh.

“We feel that we’re just one blood,” said Ahmed Rahji, who is Palestinian and works at Taz’s convenience store in downtown Raleigh.

Rahji said he feels represented, especially since the Palestinian flag has been seen on social media flown by Morocco’s fans and players alike at the World Cup.

“I feel like it’s us doing it,” he said. “(We’re) the same people.”

Morocco will have one more shot on the massive World Cup stage on Saturday as they play Croatia for the third-place play-off.

“Despite losing, it still feels like we’re winning,” Bakour said. “I think they still made history, they still did an amazing job, they gave it their all. Seeing people gather and just being happy and enjoying the pastries ... it was beautiful regardless.”