Hakimi, who was born in Spain, plays for Paris Saint-Germain in France, Al Jazeera reports. The Moroccan hero caught the attention of scouts at age 8. Hakimi, however, had to chase his dream while overcoming difficult circumstances in a lower-income household in Madrid.

“My mother was a cleaning lady and my father was a street vendor,” Hakimi said on the Spanish TV program El Chiringuito, according to Al Jazeera. “They gave up their lives for me. They took many things away from my siblings in order for me to succeed. Today, I play for them.”

Nasser Larguet, a scout who noticed Hakimi’s talents when he was still a teenager, said the young man had always shown great determination.

“He was constantly in touch with our scouts, asking when our next training camp or match was,” Larguet told Al Jazeera. “I, personally, made him the promise that if he continued to work as he had, he would soon join the senior national team.”

Hakimi made his national debut with Morocco in 2016 at the age of 18.

“My culture is Moroccan. At home, we spoke and ate Moroccan and I am a practicing Muslim. Honestly, I didn’t have to think about it so much,” he said in an interview with L’Equipe magazine, according to Al Jazeera. “I used to watch Morocco matches with my father, who always told me about the legendary players of the past.”

Saad al-Qadiri, a Moroccan supporter who was among the fans celebrating in Qatar on Tuesday, told Al Jazeera that “tonight is an incredible night.”

“This is for all of Africa, for the Arab world, for the Muslim world and for Qatar. We played for everybody,” he continued. “[Hakimi] followed his heart and decided to play for Morocco. We can’t thank him and the team enough for giving us this night. Morocco is in his blood and he is in Moroccan hearts.”

Morocco, the last African team left in the tournament, became only the fourth African nation to ever reach the quarter-finals after its win against Spain, Reuters reports.