Visibility of women of colour and unity of Arab nations among refreshing developments stemming from Atlas Lions’ progress
“I love you mum.” These four words written by Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi under an Instagram photo of his mother, Saida Mouh, kissing him on the cheek after his decisive penalty against Spain in the last-16 tie, will be one of the lasting images of Qatar’s World Cup.
Like many of the Morocco squad’s matriarchs, Mouh was no mere accessory to her son’s success. She helped to finance his football ambitions by cleaning houses while her husband worked as a street vendor in Madrid.
