After a goalless match (0-0), the Atlas Lions qualified for the quarter-finals on penalties. A first for the Cherifian kingdom.
For 120 minutes, the Education stadium in Doha looked like a boiling beehive, vibrating and whistling nonstop. Before finally exploding, almost three hours after kick-off: at the end of the effort, in a closed match in which he never really seemed worried, little Morocco has just taken out great Spain , once again thwarting the predictions of a World Cup full of surprises. For the first time in their history, the Atlas Lions are invited to the quarter-finals of a World Cup that they will play next Saturday against Switzerland or Portugal.
To get there, the wait will have been long. At kick-off, La Roja shows up in pale blue, Morocco in roja. Injured by their usual colors, the Spaniards start despite everything in the Spanish way – endless passes, without really doing much, the central defenders touching more balls than anyone. And the Moroccans in the Moroccan way, well in place, very solid, neither too high nor too low, projecting well against. Their game leans to the left where Sofiane Bouffal makes Marcos Llorente see all the colors. We would not be surprised, moreover, if the stadium gardener found an ankle, a knee or even a kidney, in short, a piece of the anatomy of the Spanish rear on the lawn so much he bit into his feints.
Napping and yawning
Carried by a particularly noisy public – we can still hear our ears whistling after the end of the match – the Moroccans are impressively cool. Like Bono, their goalkeeper, who despite ultra-high pressing from Ferran Torres then Asensio did not panic and brought the ball out cleanly. Moreover, the opportunities can be counted on the fingers of one hand. It took 26 minutes to see Spain shoot on goal (and Ascensio harvest a good ball from Jordi Alba). A sign of La Roja’s lack of inspiration, Luis Enrique keeps frolicking like a rabbit along the bench and making big gestures in all directions. On the Moroccan side, not much either apart from a long shot from Mazraoui which was difficult to catch by Unai Simon, then a header from Aguerd which went over just before half-time.
After the intermission, the game is still frozen and the chances are still as few. Morocco now plays much lower and no longer touches a ball (81% ball possession for Spain). Without two big blows of heat for Unai Simon, on the verge, twice, of losing the ball two meters from his line on a good Moroccan pressing, we would have almost taken the opportunity to take a nap. What better way to sum up this second period than these two minutes of Spanish possession around the 70th, without the leather passing once in the Moroccan 20 meters. A free kick from Olmo in the dying moments of regulation time that Nico Williams was close to could have deprived us of 30 minutes of extra time which we would have done well without. Nothing will happen. 0-0 at the end of regulation time, six shots to four for Spain, and 117 yawns in the stands.
heroic bono
The organisms are worn out, the errors are more numerous and the extension smells of chaos. Spain abandons (a little) its passing game for large balls in front and approaches Bono’s cage. But all chances end the same way: with a ball delivered in the wrong tempo, a missed control or a wide shot. Enough to infuriate our table neighbor, a Spanish journalist, who spends his nerves on the desk of the press gallery. Only a post from Sarabia in the 120th minute managed to get him out of his seat. To sit down immediately.
The referee whistles the end of the game, the score is still zero and blank. The Moroccans exult: in the game of the penalty lottery, they know how to have a rare foal with them. Bono, their keeper, has stopped 13 of the 50 shot against him so far. The porter, announced hero of this penalty shootout, does not deflate. Sarabia fires at the post, Soler and Busquets at Bono and Spain go out the back door. Morocco exults. We leave the final word to our neighbor at the table, annoyed: “We deserve, we will have done everything to get there.”