Morocco have made history as they reached the quarter final of the World Cup after beating Spain 3-0 in the round of 16 in the penalty shootouts at Education City Stadium on Tuesday.
Morocco put everything into this game and Yassine Bounou was the standout player in goals, saving two penalties and the other crashing the post.
The game was required to go to penalty shootouts after both sides failed to score in the regulation and extra time.
This means Morocco become the fourth African side to reach the quarter finals of the World Cup after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).
It was a tight and competitive game and both sides should have scored goals though before penalties, with Spain denied by the woodwork while Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal was proving to be a nuisance to Marcos Llorente, sending delivery that was headed wide by Nayef Aguerd
As the two nations are close to each other, separated by 14 kilometres in the Mediterranean Sea, a few Moroccan players are playing in Spain and coach Walid Regragui played also in Spain, that seemed to have worked in favour of the North African side to be aware of what was to come.
Morocco remains one of four teams who are yet to be defeated in these World Cup finals. They have just conceded one goal in the World Cup finals – a 2-1 win to Canada in the last group stage match to finish top of Group F to dump not only Canada but also much vaunted Belgium’s golden generation.
It was a patient build-up football versus counter attacking football, with Morocco providing the latter while Spain are known to be unflustered to hang onto the ball for long spells in search for a breakthrough.
However, neither side was able to find a goal after 90 minutes of play and the game went to extra time.
While Spain was strong in the extra time, Moroccan players continued to put their bodies on the line to block shots.
However, Pablo Sarabia should have won in extra time of added time for Spain, with his shot scratching the upright after he was clean through. He also missed the penalty in the shootouts.
This means Spain again go home as they have failed to reach the quarter finals of the World Cup since 2010 in South Africa where they went to win the trophy. Morocco will now face the winner between Portugal and Switzerland in the quarter final.
