Morocco 1-0 Portugal: Morocco made history on Saturday by becoming the first African country ever to reach the semi-finals at a World Cup. The Lions of the Atlas , with Hakim Ziyech and Sofyan Amrabat in the starting line-up, were 1-0 too strong for Portugal. For substitute Cristiano Ronaldo, his dream ended in a World Cup title in Qatar.
Morocco held their own against Portugal, but great opportunities failed to materialize for a long time for keeper Diogo Costa’s goal. Just before the break, however, things went wrong for the Portuguese. A high cross from left back Yahya Attiat-Allah did not look very convincing to Costa, while En Nesyri jumped very high to head in the 1-0. Portugal responded immediately after falling behind with a shot against the crossbar by Bruno Fernandes and the Portuguese unsuccessfully claimed a penalty from the Argentinian referee Facundo Tello.
Immediately after the break, Morocco again threatened Costa’s goal. Ziyech’s spinning free kick saw the ball bounce by a number of players, so that the somewhat surprised goalkeeper needed a reflex to prevent the 2-0. Not long after Ziyech’s attempt, Portugal coach Santos decided to bring Ronaldo and João Cancelo into line in the hunt for the equalizer at Doha’s Al Thumama Stadium. Ronaldo could not immediately threaten Bounou’s goal, Ramos (header) and Fernandes (shot) did appear threateningly for the Moroccan goalie.
After the tired Ziyech was taken to the side in the final phase, Morocco still breathed a sigh of relief with a hard swipe from Félix, on the instructions of Ronaldo. Goalkeeper Bounou made a feline save on the flaming shot. Portugal desperately went looking for the equalizer and got eight minutes of stoppage time to drag an extension out of the fire.
Ronaldo was still dangerous in extra time, in his 196th international match (shared international record with Bader Al-Mutawa from Kuwait), with a vicious shot, but Bounou was again in the way for Portugal. Morocco had to complete the game with ten men after two yellow cards in a short time for striker Walid Cheddira.
Substitute Zakaria Aboukhlal had a great chance on the counter to make it 2-0, but the miss did not break Morocco anymore. Portugal did not find a way through the Moroccan wall: veteran Pepe headed wide in the closing seconds in a promising position. Morocco can now prepare for the semi-final against the winner of the quarter-final between France and England.
