Morocco- Agadir and the Fifa Club World Cup

The following day we headed into Agadir.  The reason we had been "rushing" along the coast was that we wanted to see Auckland city football club play in the Fifa Club World Cup.  The competition is made up of teams who have won their club competitions in their part of the world.  Auckland won the Oceania competition.  The family we met the day before had heard on the radio that tickets were being sold at the tournament village by the waterfront so we headed there first.  It proved to be a good tip and after finding it, we managed to get tickets and Dale even played some 4 a side football with some young Moroccan men in a pitch set up in the complex.  It was a hot day so we returned to the van for more water and lunch and then decided to walk along the promenade.  We reached the end of the resorts, the last one was the Robinson club resort where the two teams, Auckland and Casablanca are staying for the tournament.  Unable to spot any celebrities we climbed the neighbouring dunes back to a street one block from the beach.  We were a bit tired once we reached the van and we drove to Marjane (supermarket) to buy some water and bits and pieces before driving to the stadium to check where we would have to go on Wednesday.
Even though we just bought our Morocco map for the Tomtom it didn't feature the road up to the stadium.  That didn't end up being a problem, and after going to the main entrance Dale asked about car parking and we were directed to another entrance, which we checked out as well.

Photos from our time at the football village

The beachfront at Agadir

The dunes

The Robinson Club, where both teams were staying

We returned 25 minutes north to Tagzahout.  That morning we had seen a larger area for motorhomes very close to where we had been the previous night.  We decided that we would try this one for the night as it was more spacious and had less road noise.  It was a reasonable 20 dirhams a night (1.80 euros) which the guardian collected at 5.30pm.
The following day was a lazy day of washing, reading and surfing the net.  We did break it up with a short walk along the beach and buying a couple of items from vendors who dropped by.  We felt we hadn't done too well with our bargaining when we bought 9 small bananas for 10 dirhams (90 cents)- I don't even like overripe bananas!  So following that we spent the afternoon consuming several bananas each.  It was a cloudier day and that night the wind picked up and we woke to a grey day, but still warm.

That afternoon we drove into Agadir, stopping at the Marjane before heading to the football.  I know, I know, we should be using the souks right?  We have not bought from a souk yet, but any buying we have bought we felt we haven't managed a great deal.  At the supermarket mandarins are 3.50-4.50 dirhams (about 30- 40 cents) a kg and strawberries 6 dirhams (50 cents) per 250g.  I just don't think our haggling skills are up to it yet!

We also notice a large Police presence wherever we drive.  They often have checkpoints leading up to towns or roundabouts, but show no interest in us so far.  Perhaps there are more checkpoints around Agadir also because of the Fifa tournament.

Late afternoon we headed to Agadir for the game.  We arrived early hoping to get a good park and get into the stadium early.  By being early we were directed to the first carpark, which was a 15-20 minute walk across wasteground to the stadium- failure!  We arrived in the stadium about an hour before the game was due to commence and there was plenty of fans already inside.  The stadium staff were very welcoming, patting Dale on the back when seeing his NZ flag.  There was a wonderful display before kick off with youngsters parading in the uniforms of all teams at the competition, adults singing and playing instruments and balloons flying in the air.  There was a minutes silence for Nelson Mandela, which consisted of the fans chanting.  One end of the stadium (5-10,000 of the 35,000 crowd) were all given a coloured card.  When this was held up it spelt out 'Raja' the Moroccan team, and when turned over spelt '1949'.  It was an awesome sight!

Agadir Stadium

Our tickets!

The two competing teams flags

Balloons released before the match

Raja Casablanca were first to score and the crowd literally went wild.  Auckland however equalised in the second half which subdued the crowd, and we went wild!  Unfortunately for us Raja scored in extra time, the final score 2-1.  I thought we played very well, and should be proud of our performance.
Many of the Moroccan fans were intrigued by us and came over to talk to us and to take photos with us.  These mostly young men were so friendly and excited it was fantastic to talk to them and share the experience.  A fan gave us his Raja flag which we carried out the stadium with our NZ flag, stopping often for even more photos!  Going to a football match in Morocco, where they are so passionate the game was an experience I won't forget.

After the game we headed back to Taghazout and appear to wake the car park guardian up as he appears weary eyed to collect our 20 dirhams.  We broke our rule about driving at night in Morocco, but it is mostly dual carriageway and lit, apart from the last 5 kilometres or so.  In Morocco if you are travelling under 20 km/hr ie. on a bike or donkey, you aren't required by law to carry lights.  There are also pedestrians on the roadside as well, hence we prefer not to drive at night.