Morocco makes World Cup history after defeating Portugal in the Quarter-Finals
Morocco made history by becoming the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Portugal at the Al Thumama Stadium.
Youssef En-Nesyr’s first-half header was enough to free Walid Reragui and send Cristiano Ronaldo and company off. House of Qatar.
The Atlas Lions once again showed their incredible defensive prowess despite a number of injuries, especially in defense.
Portugal had very few chances throughout the 90 minutes and even Ronaldo’s early strike at the start of the second half did little to change the game.
At the World Cup, Morocco now join Croatia as two formidable rivals for a place in the semi-finals.
There was big news on both sides after the squad news, as Ronaldo was named on the bench for the second game in a row after missing Switzerland in the round of 16.
Morocco also lost defensive pair Nayef Aguerda and Noussair Mazraoui, but Romain Saiss, who played against Spain, has also been cleared to start.
Jawad El Yamiq and Yahia Attiyat Allah stepped up in defense and were heroic and fearless in containing the Portuguese stars in attack.
Attiyat Allah was also very sharp in attack as En-Nesyri passed Ruben Dias and goalkeeper Diogo Costa to give Morocco the lead late in the first half.
The first half was very cautious as João Félix had three chances, but that goal completely opened up the game in the remaining 45 minutes of the match.
Bruno Fernandes’ brave strike left Yassine Bounou stunned as the ball bounced off the crossbar, but Attiyat Allah’s brave counter-attack saw his shot deflected wide of the goal.
Early in the second half, Costa appeared to trouble the Portugal goal again when he was lucky to have the ball bounce wide when he headed Hakim Ziyech’s dangerous free-kick straight at El Yamiq from close range.
From there, Morocco were limited to counter-attacking opportunities but still had the best chances, with goals from substitutes Walid Cheddira and Zakaria Aboukhlal, but it didn’t matter as Portugal were unable to break through the Moroccan’s excellent backline action.
Morocco had to play with 10 men after Cheddira picked up two yellow cards in two minutes of stoppage time, but Portugal had just one more chance and it was the best of the game as Pepe finished with a six. yard box seven minutes into added time.
After the final whistle, there was disbelief and disbelief between the Moroccan fans and the bench as Ronaldo left the pitch in tears in what was likely to be his last chance to win the elusive World Cup.
Morocco face quarter-final winners England and France in Wednesday’s semi-final at the Al Bayt Stadium, and nothing is impossible for this historic side.
Belgium, Spain and Portugal are now among the conquering factions, so Regra’s men have nothing to fear.
For Portugal, Fernando Santos’ job is in serious danger, because in 2016 The European Championship-winning manager has had a poor run of results since winning the trophy in France six years ago and I expected more from a team of this quality.
Two round of 16 exits in 2018 and 2020 and now a quarter-final loss to an unfancied side could spell the end of Santos’ reign.
Lineups:
Morocco Replacements: Aboukhlal, Benoun, Chair, Cheddira, Dari, El Khannouss, Ezzalzouli, Hamdallah, Jabrane, El Kajoul, Sabiri, Tagnaouti, Zaroury
Portugal Replacements: Patricio, Palhinha, Ronaldo, Silva, Sa, Carvalho, Leao, Vitinha,Mario, Cancelo, Horta, Nunes, Silva
Scorers:
42′ Youssef En-Nesyri
Yellow Cards:
