Fifa World Cup
FIFA World Cup 2022: Morocco Beats Spain 3-0 On Penalties To Reach The Quarter-Finals
(CTN NEWS) – FIFA World Cup 2022 – In the World Cup Quarter-finals, Morocco defeated Spain 3-0 in a penalty shootout following a scoreless draw, thanks largely to Achraf Hakimi’s chipped winning penalty.
After 120 minutes, there was no way to separate the two teams, and Spain’s three penalties—both beautifully saved by goalie Yassine Bounou—were all missed.
That left Hakimi of Paris St. Germain, born and reared in Madrid, to win it with his fearless penalty kick and ignite joyful celebrations on the terraces.
Morocco fans, who predominately filled Education City Stadium, went crazy at the final horn as their team advanced to the round of eight for the first time, where they will take on Portugal or Switzerland on Saturday (15:00 GMT).
Although the North African team’s supporters had been vocal the whole match, the atmosphere in the stands did not reflect the stalemate on the field.
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Few clear-cut chances were produced as Spain hogged the ball and Morocco sat backfilling the gaps.
Dani Olmo’s arrowed shot from the angle that Bounou deflected away was the closest Luis Enrique’s team came to scoring. Later, the goalie again did an outstanding job stopping Olmo’s dangerous free-kick.
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The solitary shot on goal for Morocco in the opening stanza came from Noussair Mazraoui’s long-range effort, which Unai Simon collected.
Morocco was playing on the counter and should have scored, but Nayef Aguero missed the target with an uncontested header.
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The game went into extra time because the teams couldn’t be separated. Substitute Walid Cheddira had Morocco’s finest opportunity, but he squandered it by shooting straight at Simon from eight yards out.
Over 1,000 passes were made during the game, and Spain nearly took the lead in the 123rd minute when Pablo Sarabia’s volley agonizingly missed the far post.
Africa’s Flag Flown By Morocco
With many more Moroccan supporters than Spanish ones, the stadium was a cauldron of noise from the start. When the game was over, the “Maghreb” were left rejoicing.
For the entire 120 minutes, their fans sang, chanted, and beat on drums as loud, piercing whistles rang out whenever Spain was on the ball.
And Sevilla goalkeeper Bounou appeared to feed off that intensity, stopping Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets’ attempts to score from the penalty spot while Sarabia hit the post.
As Morocco advanced into the quarterfinals, star player Hakimi displayed the greatest composure under pressure by drinking his penalty, a “Panenka,” straight down the middle.
Players were in a stupor as they ran around the field, manager Walid Regragui’s head in his hands in shock at what he had just seen before they fell to the ground and then leaped up and down in front of the crowd.
Morocco’s only other appearance in the round of 16 occurred in 1986, but they have now gone five games without losing in the World Cup and have kept a clean sheet in six of their last seven games overall.
Spain, the 2010 champions, had such a promising start as they thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match, but their campaign ended in agony.
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The favorites only had one shot on target out of their 1,019 passes as they attempted to pass Morocco into submission.
Enrique had advised his team to study penalties, practicing more than 1,000 in practice sessions before the game, but they will need to start over after failing all of their extra-point attempts.
FIFA World Cup 2022 | Morocco vs. Spain 3-0 | Match Highlights
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