Club World Cup dreams for Wydad’s Hajhouj

Over the last few days, the anticipation among Wydad Casablanca supporters has reached fever pitch as they look forward to their club’s biggest fixture of the season so far: the first leg of their CAF Champions League semi-final versus Egyptian giants Zamalek.

If their heroes negotiate that last-four hurdle and advance to the final, not only will they have a chance of continental glory, they could – in the event of success – end up representing Africa at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016.

The path to the semi-finals has certainly not been a walk in the park for Wydad. After having made it through a preliminary round and then disposed of CNaPS Sport (Madagascar) in the first round proper, the Moroccans came up against the formidable defending champions, TP Mazembe (Congo DR), in the Round of 16. Against the odds, they achieved a 2-0 victory in Marrakesh, prior to securing a resilient 1-1 draw in Lubumbashi that qualified them for the subsequent round.

Young winger Reda Hajhouj has been one of Wydad’s key players in their Champions League run this season, scoring twice in the preliminary round, twice in the first round and twice – once in each leg – versus TP Mazembe.

“It’s been a long road, because we came through three rounds before reaching the group stage,” he told FIFA.com. “Each match was difficult and decisive, particularly the away game against TP Mazembe. Despite the weather conditions and the loud home support, we managed to qualify and …

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