MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
France beat Morocco yesterday, two-nil, to advanced to the semifinals of the World Cup. The match drew crowds to the streets of Paris to watch on big screens in the summer heat. In a country with a large Moroccan diaspora, many hearts were divided. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley brings us this postcard.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Along Paris' Grand Boulevard, a string of bars and cafes put up giant screens for the game. At one, a sea of red T-shirts and Moroccan flags. Thirty-two-year-old Brahim Essabaa explains.
BRAHIM ESSABAA: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "Our parents were born in Morocco. We are children of immigrants, so we are supporting the country of our ancestors," he says. "But we're also for France. It's our country, too."
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: The tension mounts as France star Kylian Mbappe takes a penalty kick.
(CHEERING)
BEARDSLEY: Morocco fans explode in joy as it's blocked.
NABIL BENSAUD: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: "We have the best goalkeeper in the world. We blocked France," screams Nabil Bensaud (ph).
BENSAUD: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: "So we support Mbappe, too," he says. "He's from an immigrant background. It's a whole culture of mixing. France is a multicultural country."
These French Morocco supporters say they are instilled with two cultures because they grow up going on summer vacation to Morocco every year to visit family.
SIMON KUPER: So France-Morocco is very much a match with many dimensions, extremely emotional.
BEARDSLEY: And not just for the fans, says Simon Kuper, author of "World Cup Fever." Take Morocco defender Issa Diop, who, like several Morocco team players, was born and grew up in France. Never chosen for the French team, Diop, who is 29, decided to play for his mother's native country.
KUPER: Of course, what happens? He gets to the quarterfinal, and he's playing against the team he wanted to play for and always supported - France. And he's playing against his partner from the youth teams, Kylian Mbappe.
BEARDSLEY: Tragically, says Kuper, in last night's game, Diop froze instead of attacking Mbappe as the star forward scored France's first goal, which sounded like this in the streets of Paris.
(CHEERING)
BEARDSLEY: There are nearly 100 World Cup players born in France, more than any other country, but only about a quarter play for the French team. Most play for the teams of their parents' home countries from across Africa. Twenty-seven-year-old fan Basen Majdoub is of Tunisian origin, but he's rooting for Morocco because he says North African countries from the region known as the Maghreb stick together.
BASEN MAJDOUB: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "France has a colonial history with countries of the Maghreb," he says. "So there's a rivalry, but it's a healthy one. Soccer is about bringing people together to have fun."
Six minutes after Mbappe's goal, Ousmane Dembele scores again for France. Chance of allez Les Bleus - go Blues - rise in the night air.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Chanting) Allez Les Bleus.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Chanting) Allez Les Bleus.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Allez Les Bleus, allez Les Bleus.
BEARDSLEY: Eighteen-year-old Anas Farouchi changes his red Morocco T-shirt to a blue France jersey.
ANAS FAROUCHI: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "We are Moroccan and French," he says. "We're supporting both teams, so we'll be happy at the end of the evening whatever happens." He says, the fact that the Atlas Lions played France in the World Cup shows how far the Moroccan team has come. As the game wraps up around midnight, the crowd sings "The Marseillaise."
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing in French).
BEARDSLEY: Les Bleus will advance now to the semifinals. Farouchi says, for that match, everyone will be dressed in blue. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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