After the historic qualification, Yassin Bono told reporters: “This is a historic moment. We thank the fans who supported us. We played a great game and we didn’t give up, even if Spain took possession of the ball.”
He continued: “We were smart and went through the match well. We tried to manage the pressure that was on us.”
For his part, Spain coach Luis Enrique said: “Bono is a great goalkeeper on penalties and he was wonderful today.”
Morocco won (3-1) over Spain in a penalty shootout after the original and extra time ended without a goal.
Bono was threatened with missing the match after picking up an injury in Belgium’s group stage match, then returned against Canada amid questions about his readiness.
The Moroccan Lions goalkeeper refused to rest and miss training to face the biggest match against Spain and win the Man of the Match award after an impressive display.
Bono used a distinctive method in taking penalty kicks, similar to forwards dribbling over defenders, as he dribbled his body left and right to disperse the shooter before going behind the ball to tackle it.
Bono became one of the few goalkeepers in World Cup history to have saved two penalties and it was close to the third that he hit the post, because no goalkeeper in World Cup history has managed to do more.
No Arab or African goalkeeper has ever saved more than one World Cup penalty in a single match, but Bono did it.
Before the match, Bono said Morocco had already made history by winning their group and qualifying for the round of 16, but what he did against Spain was in the post-history stage, to boost results in the biggest tournament in history of football.
Bono considered facing Spain as a “derby” due to the fact that many of the stars of the Moroccan national team have played in the Spanish league at this time or previously, which prompted the Atlas Lions to face the 2010 world champions without fear or anxiety.
Bono did not think to use his Canadian citizenship to represent the Canadian national team, where he was born, to start his international journey from day one with the Moroccan national team.
Badou Zaki, the legend of Morocco in goalkeeping, considered Yassin Bono his successor, and confirmed that he deserved his position above all in the defense of the lions’ den, so much so that the 2022 World Cup arrives and confirms it with Bono’s genius in front of the Spain.
