In the days leading up to the quarter-final between Morocco and Portugal, the talk of the world was Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese captain. And in the Portuguese-speaking world: from King Sebastian I, also known as: Sebastian the Desired. In 1578, King Sebastian I tried to make a dream come true: to conquer Morocco. He went to North Africa with 18,000 men. And disappeared with them into the desert. On Saturday, Portugal disappeared from the tournament like Sebastian I. A lone goal from Youssef En-Nesyri, which the Moroccans executed with skill, sacrifice and wits.
“We made history for Africa. Africa is on the football map,” said Morocco national coach Walid Regragui pathos. “We used our capital, we were a team, we had the mentality.”
It was different with the team coached by Portugal Fernando Santos: “The players wanted to, but we couldn’t fully play to our strengths, even when we had chances to score.” Defender Pepe was annoyed with the referee: “They came in front of our goal once in the first half and scored. They interrupted every move we made with fouls, but the referee hardly intervened.” The second half was similar: “The goalkeeper delayed the game, many small fouls, but the referee didn’t give a yellow card.”
Ronaldo, on the other hand, cried when he left the pitch: he will never be world champion. And his nemesis, Argentinian Lionel Messi, is still in the tournament after all.
The only goal conceded was an own goal, which explained Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction on the bench
Of all the quarter-finals, this was undoubtedly the game with the clearest role allocation. Portugal were the clear favorites, even without Ronaldo in the starting XI. Morocco: the outsider. The game started accordingly, with a great header chance for Portugal’s João Félix (4′). Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, known as Bono, parried the bounce with flying colors.
After that, the game developed as could be expected given the Moroccans’ previous performances. At least largely. The Portuguese pushed and spun the ball, thirsting for ways to break through the Moroccan defence, which was playing in a tried and tested 4-1-4-1 formation. Almost like the Spaniards who were beaten on penalties by Morocco in the round of 16. But the Moroccans ironed it all out. If there hadn’t been a deflected shot from Félix (31′), which flew over the crossbar, one would have had to say that hardly anything happened. In one respect, however, the Moroccans were poled differently than they were against the Spaniards. They showed a greater interest in visiting the opposing half. True, it was only slightly larger. But at least. And above all: It bore fruit shortly before half-time.
In the 42nd minute Yahia Attiyat Allah sent a cross from the left just outside the six yard box and Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa jumped for the ball with his arms outstretched – and was duped. Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri jumped like Chilean center forward Iván Zamorano – and pushed the ball into the empty net with his forehead to make it 1-0. The Al-Thumama stadium, which was not entirely sold out, turned into a single, drawn-out scream. And that meant: Portugal’s third entry into a World Cup semi-final (after England 1966 and Germany 2006) seemed like a mirage. And the first ever semi-finals for an African team was within reach.
The reason: No team had managed to become such an impenetrable block of concrete as Morocco. The North African team had conceded just one goal in the entire tournament. It was an own goal. That explained Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction on the bench. He widened his eyes, pursed his lips, and let out a breath.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos waited a few more minutes before bringing on Ronaldo for Rúben Neves (and João Cancelo for Dortmund’s Raphaël Guerreiro). Under the whistles of the Moroccan supporters.
In the 83rd minute goalkeeper Bono deflected a shot from João Félix over the crossbar
The Portuguese began to press the Moroccan penalty area more than before. Gonçalo Ramos tried his hand, but he obviously missed his powder against Switzerland (three goals). A shot by Bernardo Silva from the edge of the box went over it. Santos kept throwing new dynamite onto the field – Rafael Leão and Vitinha came on – but the Moroccan defense remained static. On the contrary, their last line widened with every second that passed: the chain of four became a chain of five and sometimes a chain of six. All of these chains had something in common: enriching the history of their football with an epic. The epic of Al Thumama.
Everyone was involved, especially Bono, the goalkeeper, who buried a ball and smacked it away again, and Sofyan Amrabat, who was as omnipresent on the pitch as the ever-increasing smell of the sensation. Especially after the injury-related substitutions of captain Romain Saïss, Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal. They were pretty much the strongest forces in Morocco. But Bono’s hands remained sacred: in the 83rd minute he deflected a shot from João Félix over the crossbar, which was headed for the top corner. And Bono saved again: a direct low shot from Ronaldo at full speed just as eight minutes of overtime had begun.
Shortly thereafter, the Moroccans lost Walid Cheddira – because of a yellow-red card (90 + 2), which he saw as a foul on Félix. Then almost a miracle happened: the exhausted Moroccans had a match point when Zakaria Aboukhlal ran on goal alone from the halfway line after a breakaway – and shot Diogo Costa, the tragic hero of the first half. The Moroccans had to survive a single moment of shock: when Pepe headed next to the goal. But then, as I said, Portugal’s national team disappeared like King Sebastian I in the desert. And Ronaldo cried.