Morocco made history and reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time by beating Spain 3-0 on penalties. Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou is the protagonist and hero of the qualification that delights not just one country, but the entire African continent. He plays in Spain, in Sevilla, and studied the penalty takers of La Roja. In fact, he saved the shots from Soler and Busquets, while Sarabia had hit the post in the first penalty. Instead, it was the former Inter player Hakimi who scored the decisive goal, the one that drives his 35,000 fans crammed into the stands of the Educational Stadium in Doha crazy and will keep Morocco awake for a night of partying and dancing. Spain comes out of the penalty spot once again, as had already happened in 1986 with Belgium, in 2002 with Korea and in 2018 with Russia. This time the suffocating tiki-taka set up by Luis Enrique did not pay because the 975 completed passes (against just 235 for Morocco) mostly took place away from the opponent’s goal. As if she were hypnotized by her own game, especially in the regulation 90′ she struggled a lot to get close to Bounou. And then she lacked accuracy: 14 shots towards goal and only two in the mirror.
It is not enough to dismantle the defenses of a humble, attentive, solid and orderly Morocco. Never giving up, it should be added, so much so that he builds his own opportunities without letting himself be intimidated. It can be seen that coach Regragui’s team is made up largely of people who play in the best European leagues. Between the final and overtime there is also room for Walid Cheddira, top scorer in Serie B with the Bari shirt, who stands out for a couple of sprinter buck and at least as many wasted scoring chances. At the start, the novelty in Spain is Llorente as a right winger of the defence. Not a very happy choice because Boufal will often put him in difficulty, until he has to go out due to injury. Mirror formations, deployed with the 4-3-3 and concentrated in a few tens of meters. Morocco immediately gives a sign of not wanting to concede anything to the dribbling masters and the first lunges on the legs are very decisive. The Argentinian referee Rapallini has to blow his whistle often. It is mainly played on the balance of the respective midfields. The touches of Gavi, Busquest and Pedri against the aggressiveness of Ounhai, Amrabat and Amallah.
The first danger came from Morocco, in the 26th minute, following a mistake by Bounou which allowed Spain to recover the ball. Then the goalkeeper made up for it, miraculously deflecting Gavi’s shot against the crossbar. A few minutes and Morocco, on a turnover coming out of Spain, engages Unai Simon with Mazraoui’s low shot. The end of the half sees Roja suffering: in the 42nd minute Aguerd, with a header, lifts Boufal’s cross from an excellent position. Spain had plenty of ball possession at the interval, but Morocco was ready to start again by exploiting a certain predictability from their opponents. No change on return. Dani Olmo’s free-kick committed Bounou, but shots remained a rarity. On 18′ Enrique removes Gavi and Asensio for Soler and Morata. As the minutes go by, Morocco becomes more cautious. In the 35th minute Morata’s low cross-shot crosses the entire goal, but nobody is ready for the deflection. It is Spain’s last chance to avoid extra time and penalties which will be fatal.
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