History made as Morocco beat Spain, advancing to the Quarterfinals
This world cup has been full of surprises, with yet another surprise last night when the Moroccan team beat Spain and made their way into the finals. Spain has been a great team with the best players in the world, but Morocco still managed to beat them. In addition, there was no goal scored during the match, so penalties took place.
In the penalty shootouts, Morocco beat Spain to reach the quarterfinals of the world cup. It is the first time in history that such an unpredictable team has took over one of the best teams in the world and reached the quarterfinals.
During the 120 minutes time frame, no team scored against each other. Let us talk about the gameplay for both teams. Starting with Morocco had an excellent defense. Whenever the Spanish team would get near the opponent’s goal post to score, most players would come around them and safely tackle the players and kick the ball away. The strategy must have been decided in the dressing room.
In addition to the previous, they also managed to attack very well too. The Spanish team also performed well and showed great dedication to the ball with a few excellent shots. However, the man of the match had to be the goalkeeper playing for morocco because, during the game, he saved a great number of goals.
Those goals could have landed in the nets and Moroccan would have lost, but due to the quick movement of the keeper, he saved all of them. Moving on, he played a vital role in the penalties too.
Yes, the game was a draw, but there are qualifying rounds, so there has to be a winner, thus the referee held penalties. The Moroccan goalkeeper saved two goals by jumping from one end to the other to stop the ball from entering the goal.
However, if we look closely at the game, the Moroccan team performed exceptionally well in the penalties and that might be the reason they won the game. It was as if they knew the actions of the opponent team.
However, when the manager was asked about this, he said that the team had practiced 1000 penalty sessions during training, and that too without a break. It showed the determination and hard work the team put into winning the game. It also shows that they deserved to win it.
Talking more about the game, during the penalty shootouts, the Moroccan keeper saved three goals in the match. After saving the third goal, it was moroccos turn to shoot the ball. The ground was filled with intense pressure because all the weight landed on the shooter who had to shoot the ball and score for his country.
He knew that if he scored the goal, it would take his country into the quarter finals for the first time in the world. He shot the ball with full power, not left and not night, but exactly straight. He was able to fool the keeper, score the goal and take his country to the WorldCup.
During the game, most of the possession was with the Mororocon team because they looked for key passes whereas the Spanish team just hogged the balls. It can be proven because, during the whole game, the Moroccan team conduced around 1000 successful passes.
Moreover, in the ending moments of the game, extra time was given as both teams were equally matched in power and defense. Substitutions were made by the Moroccon team but in the end, they dominated the penalties and went into the quarterfinals.
