Confidence runs high in London’s Little Morocco as Afcon glory beckons

Lailah Khallouk, left, and Saoud Talsi outside Trellick Tower. Football ‘has completely united the Moroccan diaspora’.
“London’s Little Morocco is brimming with pride and anticipation. The Moroccan diaspora in North Kensington is in no doubt that on Sunday the Atlas Lions will triumph against Senegal in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations. ‘There’s not just an excitement, it has completely taken over everything else,’ said Souad Talsi, who runs the Al-Hasaniya Moroccan women’s centre at the base of 31-storey Trellick Tower, at the north end of Golborne Road. She added: ‘There is so much gloom and doom around at the moment and people are depressed about Gaza, but football has given us a respite from all that. It has completely united the Moroccan diaspora and given us a purpose and a sense of belonging.’ Mohamed Chelh said that if Morocco prevail it will be first time they have lifted the Afcon trophy since 1976, a tournament he cannot even remember. …”
Guardian