World Cup dreams might be over for England but for some Moroccans living in the country, hope is still alive.
After their team defeated Portugal on December 10 at Al Thumama Stadium, Morocco fans gathered in London for fervent celebrations as the Atlas Lions became the first African nation to make it through to the semi finals.
One overjoyed superfan Youssef Alami, 26, says he’s been wearing his football shirt to work every day for the last fortnight.
Last Saturday, he sat in a pub and watched Morocco make history thanks to their 1-0 win over the Portuguese, which he says left him with “tears in my eyes.”
Speaking to the Mirror, Youssef said: “I still have the tears in my eyes to be honest. I was losing my voice and by the next game, I was getting a little bit back but I was losing it again.
"My voice is still gone, I stress out like crazy. I've been wearing my Moroccan jersey to work for the last two weeks.
"Some people will feel that it might be a silly feeling but we are feeling so proud like you can’t imagine.
“This is something we haven't even had the chance to dream of. We felt that we're not allowed to dream that we could reach this level someday and we did.
“It was something you would even joke about with your friends. But now that we are here we are.
“And to be honest, I can't believe it. I'm just afraid someone will wake me up.”
Youssef says he had been looking forward to celebrating an England win against France and watched them play with the same support and passion he had for Morocco.
He said: “When England didn't make it, I was sad for them. I was going to be very happy if they won. I was watching the game like it was a Morocco game.
“We were going to celebrate that day together. But Morocco will get revenge, I can feel it.”
Youssef works as an Energy Specialist and moved to the UK from Kenitra in Morocco five years ago. But until the World Cup, he says he hadn’t met many people from his country.
However, since the start of the tournament, he says he has made "friendships that can last forever."
Youssef said: “Now I have made more Moroccan friends in this short period of time than I ever made in the last five years.
“I’ve been invited to people’s houses, everyday. They are like, ‘let’s go somewhere, let’s do this.’ We’ve started doing more activities together which is great.
“When you have celebrations, when everyone is happy and you can definitely make friendships and probably friendships that can last forever.”
Youssef says he even met fellow fans from his hometown during the celebrations.
He said: “I met two guys from my city, from my area. That was amazing.
“We were very happy because that's the thing, maybe we would live here forever and we would have never had the chance to meet.”
But as well as meeting people from his birth country, Youssef says that the World Cup has united different people from various countries as he says it “isn’t just about football anymore.”
He said: “It’s not just about football anymore. It’s a dream of a country and also the dream of two nations.
“Morocco is part of the Arabic world and the African continent, so I feel like we are representing both.
“ I can see in the celebrations when we go to celebrate every time they win.
“I find myself celebrating with Iraqis, Saudi Arabians, Egyptians, Tunisians, Senegalese, people from Ivory Coast. From all over Africa."
Youssef says that coming this far and potentially winning the World Cup represents "more than winning a football game."
He said: “Everyone is happy for this one as it represents more than winning in the football game, but it's actually a dream of a nation that was waiting for it. Waiting for an achievement.
“It's been a while, especially in the Arabic world. There have been a lot of conflicts but I feel like everyone is together now.
“We’ve been told we can’t do it, but we can. This is the proof. This is real, this is not a dream.
“African countries can reach what they were aiming for. If they work hard if they let them work hard enough.
“This is not something fictional, this is real. This is a reality. Morocco is with the top best teams in the world.”
With the Atlas Lions facing two-time World Cup winners France later today, Youssef says he 'might lose' his 'brain' if his team beat them to have a chance of taking football's greatest trophy against Argentina, who beat Croatia 3-0 in the first semi-final last night.
Come rain, sleet or snow, the Morocco fan says nothing will stop him from heading to Trafalgar Square in London and perhaps watching history being made again.
