How Morocco is making history at the World Cup

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• Geoff Bennett:

  Morocco made history today in Qatar, becoming the first African nation and the first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final. Since the first World Cup in 1930, only European and South American teams have made the final, leading to questions about whether the tournament is making strides toward its goal of global inclusivity. Kevin Blackistone joins us now. He's a contributor for ESPN and the Washington Post. It's great to have you here.

  So, Kevin, Morocco was not the strongest African team coming into the World Cup, but they have grown with every game. What do you see as the significance of Morocco's historic win?

• Kevin Blackistone, Sports Journalist:

  Well, the significance is that they won with players who were the progeny of colonization, the progeny of their occupiers, in this case, Spain, which along with France that had colonized and occupied Morocco for many, many decades. And so, I thought that that was really, really jumped out to me, because it's about — as I've watched the World Cup over the years, and I recall specifically being in France for the final back in 1998. It's the number of foreign players who wind up starring for European teams and carrying them to glory. And this particular time, it's the other way around. And we have the foreign-born players deciding to play for their ancestral home, and finally bringing them to the — to some glory.

  And so, you have Morocco here breaking through with people who are Moroccan, who could have played for other countries, but decided to play for their motherland. And for the first time now, we have an African side, it's going to be in the Final Four for the World Cup.

• Geoff Bennett:

  This is the first World Cup held in the Middle East. How has that changed the dynamic of the competition?

• Kevin Blackistone:

  Well, I think one of the things that it's done is it's given the rest of the world a chance to stand on this stage. You know, I remember when Qatar got this bid back in 2010, 2011. And I wrote that this was really a good thing for soccer when everyone else was bemoaning the fact that would be in the middle of the English premiership season, and other European seasons that would be in a climate that no one was accustomed to playing in, that it would be in a land that didn't necessarily embrace soccer, like the rest of the world.

  But if you're going to be the World Cup, and if you're going to celebrate, what you have said is the globe's favorite, favorite sport, then you need to take it to the rest of the world. And that's finally what FIFA is doing. It's finally what the Olympics are doing. You know, we had the World Cup in 2002. That was in Asia for the first time, shared between South Korea and Japan. So, this was a fantastic thing for the West, rest of the world to be involved in staging this global event.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Yeah. Kevin, I think it's interesting. I mean, help us understand why have South American and European teams traditionally been so dominant?

• Kevin Blackistone:

  They created the game, or at least modified the game from some ancient games elsewhere around the planet. And they are the ones that put all the money and time and resources into it. And as they begin to enjoy the game, they also begin to export it to their colonies, to their protector, it's to other lands around the world that they occupy. And I think, you know, in my reading of what people have had to say about the export of sport particularly when you're talking about European sport, it's been exported not necessarily as a noble cause, but as a way to instill European sensibilities and European ideas elsewhere around the planet.

  And in doing so, and in teaching people who hadn't played this game traditionally how to play it, they also begin to harvest that talent and bring it back to the European leagues. And now you're starting finally to see that reverse that talent is starting to go back and play for the ancestral lands.

• Geoff Bennett:

  As we wrap up our conversation here, I wonder if you might be able to share a thought or reflection about American soccer journalist Grant Wahl who died suddenly last night?

• Kevin Blackistone:

  Yeah, Grant Wahl was the primary voice, the written word for soccer in this country for a couple of decades. And I didn't know him. But we crossed paths at several World Cups. And, you know, he was very fortunate. And I think the game of soccer was very fortunate that he was able to dedicate his career to writing about, to writing about this game.

  And a lot of people know about this game in this country, not just from broadcast, but also from being able to read what Grant Wahl's had to say about it for so many years. And so, this was a, you know, it's a tragic loss for journalism. The tragic loss for sports journalism, and in particularly, for soccer journalism.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Yeah, tragic loss, indeed. Kevin Blackistone of ESPN and The Washington Post, thanks so much for your insights, I appreciate you.

• Kevin Blackistone:

  Thanks for the invite.