Morocco qualified for the 1st time for the quarter-finals of a World Cup by knocking out Spain yesterday, in the shoot-out by penalties (3-0, after finishing the match 0-0), waiting for the winner of Portugal- Switzerland.
The Spaniards did not score any penalties and this will be discussed, after the Spanish coach revealed a year ago that he had given extra work to the players: to score a thousand penalties in training so that they would not be eliminated from the competition again. 11 meters. They were eliminated on penalties at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 and unfortunately for Luis Enrique, history repeated itself at Qatar 2022.
la roja it is even the team that has been eliminated most often from a World Cup in the penalty shoot-out. Out of five, they managed to advance to the next stage only once.
To make history, Walid Regragui opted for the usual eleven, substituting only Abdelhamid Sabiri for Selim Amallah. Already on the Spanish side, Luis Enrique surprised again by making six substitutions and betting on the title of Llorente on the right, leaving Morata (the Spanish joker in this World Cup already with three goals) on the substitute bench.
Despite putting a lot of pressure on Morocco, who tried to play short and took a long time to develop the game and reach the Unai Simón area, the Spaniards only managed to score a goal in the 27th minute. Asensio’s shot hit the side net and somehow gave the Moroccans an offensive boost, creating two great chances (by Noussair Mazraoui and Nayef Aguerd) to cap off a very contested and balanced first half.
Countering Spanish favoritism while staying true to their style was a small win for the Africans and their 26% possession in 120 minutes. More than a goal chance and a corner kick were expected from the Spanish national team, but there was something good about the Spanish performance that led the coach to return with the same eleven for the second half.
And it was another 45 minutes to grind the game. Morocco’s passive play and Spain’s slow play drew monumental whistles from the stands. To speed things up, Luis Enrique turned to Nico Williams and Morata, who had failed to maintain his goalscoring streak in the previous three matches.
Walid Cheddira, Hakimi and Ounahi also failed to beat Unai Simón, but caused a lot of shudder. In the last play of the game, Bono evaded Pedri’s goal and took the game to extra time, where the Moroccans were closer to solving the game. Cheddira had the Spanish goalkeeper saved and everything would be decided on penalties, where Yassine Bono (pictured) made a big splash as he saved two penalties and saw one hit the post. And so Morocco made history.
SEE GAME STATISTICS HERE.
Source: DN
