The Moroccan festival in Italy: Milan, Bologna, Turin, Florence

The great celebration of North African fans who have invaded the streets of our country risks turning into a tragedy in Milan. Around 7 pm in Corso Buenos Aires, a 30-year-old Moroccan would have intervened to settle a dispute between a group of at least five young compatriots, which apparently arose for trivial reasons. According to an initial reconstruction, the injured victim would have accidentally bumped into a passer-by, a young man probably from Eastern Europe and unrelated to the ongoing celebrations, who, for no apparent reason, stabbed him and then fled in the direction of Piazzale Loreto . Admitted to the Policlinico in code red, his conditions worsened after the result of the CT scan which showed internal bleeding. The man was then intubated by doctors. The Carabinieri of the Milano Duomo Company intervened on the spot and are conducting the investigations. In the late evening news arrived of another three slightly injured, all of foreign origin, involved in various scuffles. The first suffered bruises to his face, the second a lacerated cut bruised to his forehead and a shoulder came out at the last. During the various prevention services, the State Police blocked a drunk boy from Eastern Europe who allegedly threw a bottle at the agents of the Mobile Department and another, a 25-year-old Moroccan, who was caught exploding in Corso Buenos Aires in a dangerous way and on several occasions fireworks. Both were accompanied to via Fatebenefratelli for the usual measures.

the party in milan

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In Milan (where the Moroccan community is the third most populous after the Romanian and Albanian ones), Corso Buenos Aires was overwhelmed by the processions of supporters of the Lions of the Atlas, recalling so much what had happened on May 22 with the celebrations for the 19th Milan scudetto. Smoke grenades, firecrackers, fireworks, drums, singing and dancing plus many national flags and many people wearing the shirts of their team’s favorites. Almost an early New Year’s Eve staged by the Moroccan community, with about 5,000 people celebrating the historic occasion. Unfortunately then the stabbing that casts a shadow on the celebrations.

turin, bologna, florence

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The party is back in Turin too. 8,000 people poured into Corso Giulio Cesare, including trumpets and choirs. With red smoke bombs, flags, fireworks, firecrackers, together with T-shirts, hats and scarves with the team colors, they paraded in procession, shouting and singing with joy and playing drums and car horns, from “Barriera di Milano”, district in the north of the city, up to Porta Palazzo, towards the centre. Many young people and whole families, despite the cold and foggy evening. There were also many chants of teasing against the former Juventus player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Similar scenes in Bologna, where Piazza Maggiore was invaded by Moroccan flags and by many people who showed irrepressible joy for the historic qualification of the national team to the semi-final. In the square, the celebration is not only of the Moroccan community, but of the whole African one. Fireworks have been going off, smoke bombs have been going off, and there are kids climbing wherever you can climb to shout “we made history”. Many Italians also celebrated together with the Moroccans. Honking of horns and cars on the riversides up to the historic center kicked off the celebrations of Morocco fans in Florence. Also in the Tuscan capital, around a hundred other North African fans celebrated on foot between the Santa Maria Novella station, Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Repubblica. Joy for the qualification also in Lucca and in the province. In Viareggio, both in the Promenade and on the seaside avenues and squares, the community of Moroccan immigrants demonstrated by lighting smoke bombs and waving their national flag.

Cheddira pizza

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In the Marches, the enthusiasm for the qualification of Walid Cheddira’s Morocco to the quarter-finals has infected the city of Loreto (where Walid was born) and the neighboring Porto Recanati where Walid has many friends. This has prompted a local restaurateur to invent a world pizza dedicated to Cheddira, a historic customer of the restaurant and a friend of Zia Emilia’s Moroccan pizza maker, Mohamed. And the colors of the “Walid Cheddira” wood-fired pizza seem to recall the colors of the Moroccan flag: red with a green star in the centre. The green of the rocket, the red nuances created by the cherry-shrimp mix.

in Paris

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Party also in Paris on the Champs-Elysees, while cars with flags whizzing by with their horns blaring throughout the capital, from the Bastille to the Place de la Concorde. After the victory over Portugal, the fans – thousands gathered in the banlieue, in Mantes-la-Jolie – poured into the capital, especially in front of the clubs where, on giant screens, dozens watched the last minutes of the match. At the final whistle, the Moroccans exploded with joy.