Whatever the weather, they play in the central square edged with cafes for tourists who seem bemused that such enjoyment can be had from kicking a stone. The story is the same elsewhere in Morocco – on the sands in Agadir on Sunday mornings (when hundreds take part in 15 or 20-a side games on the beach) and in the souks of Marrakesh – if it can be kicked, you have got yourself a game Football has come of age in this corner of North Africa. “How much is the this one?” I asked the shopkeeper, pointing to the red and white ball hanging next to the replica shirts bearing the name Moustapha Hadji (the country’s latest greatest player, recently voted African player of the year for 1998) outside Essaouira’s only sports shop.
“A hundred and twenty dirhams (pounds 8),” the shopkeeper said, adding, as if there were some strange significance to the fact, “and we have one in green and white.”"I’ll give you 100,” I said, making an obligatory attempt at haggling.The shopkeeper considered for a second before lowering his price to 110. I pulled all my money from my pocket and found I had 109.5.”A hundred and nine,” I said, and the shopkeeper went into the back of the shop, found a deflated green ball on a shelf, and asked his assistant to inflate it with a car-tyre pump. I gave the spare half dirham to an old lady with an outstretched palm, but, as she took it, she kept one eye on the ball.Quite why a football should command such interest is a mystery Perhaps the mere fact that it was not a stone. Perhaps because, unlike the town or most things in it, it was gleaming new.

Or perhaps because the country’s passion for the game is increasing due to Hadji’s award and the national side being on the up and up.Morocco may have had some illustrious characters in its footballing history (such as Hajd Lardi Benbarek, nicknamed the “Black Pearl”, who played for France in the pre-Independence era of the 1940s), it may have become the first African nation to reach the last 16 in a World Cup finals (in Mexico in 1986), but only now is it making real headway.The game has only been professional in the country since 1996, when the Royal Moroccan Football Federation decided to make it so to help the national side. In 1997, the country qualified both for the following year’s African Nation’s Cup and France 98 without losing a qualifier in either competition. In 1998, Hadji flourished on the international stage, with a spectacular World Cup goal against Norway, and became a favourite with his club side in Spain, Deportivo La Coruna.Salaheddine Bassir, a team-mate of Hadji’s at both club and international level, consolidated his reputation as a striker with goals for Morocco in France (including two against Scotland) and Deportivo in Spain. IN ESSAOUIRA they play football in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix. When the wind, blowing in off the Atlantic, abates sufficiently, they play along the beach near the small Moroccan fishing port the guitarist frequented for inspiration in the 1960s. When it is too hot to be out of the shade, they play using the town’s narrow alleys as their pitch and the arched stone doorways as their goals. Imagine that neither side’s defence has yielded and the seconds are ticking away.

Schmeichel has made his quota of last-ditch saves, and is as restless as Alex Ferguson So be prepared for a dramatic finish. Schmeichel jogs upfield and heads the winner from a David Beckham corner The singing and dancing is at the United end And then we wake up.. They would have felt more secure had their first-half superiority produced more than one goal, and they saw how heartened United were by a spirited second-half performance and Ryan Giggs’ late equaliser.Juventus will not play for a goalless draw, although it would see them into the final. I sort of passed the ball in the direction of the target, striking it firmly with the inside of my right boot.

It went into the net beautifully – the best sidefoot pass I ever made.” United defeated Benfica in the final at Wembley, 4-1 after extra time. “I had no doubts about us winning,” Foulkes said, “even when it was 1-1 at the end of normal time.”Now the scene is set for an extraordinary night in Turin Juventus are strongly placed, having scored at Old Trafford. The near post was heavily protected, so Best cut the ball back for Foulkes. “I wouldn’t say I shot the ball,” Foulkes recounted, “but as it came across I could see the target clearly, about two-thirds of the goal.

Real seemed content to keep possession without pressing in the second half, until David Sadler put the ball in their net off a knee.With a place in the final in the balance, Crerand prepared to take a throw, looking for options Foulkes jogged out of defence and called for the ball. Crerand, shaping to make a throw to Foulkes, noticed that Best’s marker had moved slightly and delivered the ball to the winger.Foulkes continued to jog forward as Best beat his man, moved to the line, and prepared to cross the ball. Drawn against Real Madrid in the European Cup semi-finals, United arrived at the Bernabeu with a 1-0 lead from the first leg. But by half time in the return match Real were leading, 3-1.Busby emphasised that the score was only 3-2 on aggregate and that a goal would force a replay in Lisbon because extra time was not scheduled. His more potent delivery of freekicks had him proclaimed as the outright winner long before his 74th-minute substitution.It left Robson concentrating on where to spend his pounds 30m.