Morocco's national team has become the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final. This Wednesday (20:00) there will be a duel with the French team. The Düsseldorf police have prepared.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The Düsseldorf police have a larger contingent ready for the semi-finals of the World Cup. This Wednesday at 8 p.m., Morocco will meet France. "We are prepared," said a police spokesman on request. The jubilation could also be great in other NRW cities.
With Morocco's national team, an African team is in Qatar for the first time in the semi-finals of a soccer World Cup. The way there had already triggered a storm of enthusiasm from thousands of fans in the state capital. After Morocco's victory over Portugal, traffic around the main train station came to a temporary standstill last Saturday. Buses and trains were also affected.
"It is to be expected that streets will have to be closed again," said a police spokesman on Tuesday. However, this will be situational as soon as roads are no longer passable. "So far, the successes of the Moroccan team have mostly been celebrated peacefully. Only a few have gone too far," it said.
Thousands of Moroccan fans celebrated in the state capital, especially in the area around the main train station and in the Oberbilk district - with Bengalos and motorcades. The police had an "intensive and long" operation because bottles and firecrackers were thrown at emergency services and property was damaged. One officer was slightly injured.
The police also had to intervene in the city of Cologne because of the crowds of fans, units from all over the city were deployed. Unknown persons smashed the rear window of a police vehicle with stones. Nobody got hurt. An officer was hit by a bottle on his helmet but was also unhurt. There were peaceful and boisterous celebrations in Essen, Dortmund and Hamm.
