The Brazilian Olympic team’s friendly, led by future FC Barcelona striker Vitor Roque, was supposed to play this Monday in Morocco before the local team was officially cancelled. The CBF initially announced that the seleçao would play a new match against the local team behind closed doors, but finally confirmed the suspension of the match, due to the situation in Morocco after the devastating earthquake that occurred on Friday of night south of Marrakesh, which has so far caused more than 2,000 deaths.
The CBF initially reported on Sunday that the Olympic team’s second friendly against Morocco will be held behind closed doors and without a televised broadcast. A few minutes later, the Brazilian Football Confederation corrected its communication after learning that the Moroccan federation had decided to cancel it.
The Brazilian team plans to wear black armbands as a sign of mourning for the victims of the earthquake and, in addition, for its players to enter the field of play displaying banners of support for the Moroccan people. .
The Olympic teams of Brazil and Morocco played on Thursday in Fez, where the team led by coach Ramón Menezes lost 1-0.
The team, with its star Vitorb Roque at the helm, is staying in a hotel in Fez, a town more than 500 kilometers from the epicenter of the magnitude 7 earthquake on the Richter scale that mainly affected the outskirts of Marrakesh.
Despite the distance from the epicenter, the tremors were also felt where the under-23 team was. “I felt like the bed was shaking,” said forward Paulinho. An hour after the earthquake, members of the Brazilian team left their rooms and gathered near the hotel pool. “I stood up in fear, I saw that the lamp was shaking. Then, I left the room. It was scary and we looked for safety,” explained Paulinho, according to Globoesporte’s report. “They took care of us and guided us very well. well and we went to the pool area as a precaution. , it’s a more open place. Thank God we are safe. Unfortunately, we already know the death toll … this is something very serious, we feel it and we offer our solidarity to all Moroccan citizens and to those who help in the search for these people,” said the Atlético-MG player.
Goalkeeper Matheus Cunha gave a message of solidarity to the victims of the earthquake and revealed his experience. “We were all safe. When we felt the tremors, our coaching staff, the medical team, asked us to leave the room to stay in a safer place, around the pool. After an hour we went back to sleep,” explained by Matheus. .
The technical coordinator of the youth categories of the CBF, former player Branco, had the same feeling. “We felt a very strong shaking, a terrible sensation. The bed started to sway from one side to the other. I also saw the chandeliers shaking. I discovered right away, I’ve been through it three times. But it was strong .I ran to the closet, “I grabbed my cell phones and my passport and ran out, called the athletes to go down the stairs to find shelter,” he said.Finally, there will be no Morocco-Brazil U23 friendly. Morocco continues under days of mourning.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
