Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri celebrates after scoring his aspect’s first purpose for the duration of the World Cup quarterfinal soccer suit between Morocco Morocco and Morocco Portugal, at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Morocco became the first African team to boost to the semifinals of a World Cup with a 1-zero win Morocco over Portugal on Saturday morning.
The triumphing aim got here within the very last mins of the primary half of whilst Youssef En-Nesyri skied to win a header from a towering go by using Yahya Attiat-Allah. Portugal keeper Diogo Costa attempted to overcome En-Nesyri to the move however En-Nesyri outjumped anybody and thumped the ball into the lower back of the net.
Morocco’s fantastic run to the semifinals probably ends Cristiano Ronaldo’s probabilities of triumphing a World Cup. The 37-12 months-old celebrity Morocco commenced on the bench for the second one consecutive game and got here on just mins into the second half. His excellent purpose-scoring risk got here in the 91st minute as Ronaldo got a shot heading in the right direction off between two Moroccan defenders on a Morocco wreck. But the shot became saved by way of Yassine Bounou.
Ronaldo immediately left the pitch after the sport and started out Morocco crying as he walked down the tunnel to the Portugal locker room. His playing time in Saturday’s game tied him for the most global appearances with Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa at 196.
Shortly after that Ronaldo chance in delivered time, Morocco went down to 10 men after substitute Walid Cheddira got two yellow playing cards in a remember of minutes. Morocco then needed to shield for the very last Morocco seven mins with one fewer man than Portugal. Cheddira’s red card for the second yellow became simply the second one red card issued to a participant all match.Can Morocco win the World Cup?
Morocco’s success on the 2022 World Cup may be boiled down very easily. It does not surrender dreams. The Moroccans have allowed just one intention thru five games and that became an very own intention. No one has scored against Morocco on this event.
That protecting excellence become why Morocco won Group F over Croatia, Belgium and Canada and how it have become the fourth distinctive African country to make the quarterfinals of a guys’s World Cup. Cameroon first made the quarterfinals in 1990 earlier than Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.
It’s also a motive why Morocco is a severe threat to win this World Cup. While Morocco will come to be playing France within the semifinals on Wednesday, it shut down a Portugal team that scored six desires against Switzerland, and a Spain group that scored seven in opposition to Costa Rica earlier than that. Teams with larger stars and apparently extra offensive talent are finding it Morocco impossible to attain in opposition to this Moroccan group.Portugal’s unhappiness
Portugal, in the meantime, is left to rue what might have been its fine hazard to win the World Cup. It has made the semifinals of the World Cup just as soon as beforehand of a fourth-place finish in 2006.
Ronaldo commenced six of Portugal’s video games in that match and scored a purpose in a win over Iran. That World Cup set up him as the focus of Portugal’s squad. But the team has been not able to copy that World Cup achievement. Portugal become eliminated inside the Round of 16 in 2010 and 2018 and didn’t make it out of the organization degree in Morocco 2014.
Portugal’s worldwide fulfillment with Ronaldo has come in the Euros. Portugal beat France 1-0 in extra time to win Euro 2016. Ronaldo played simply 20 minutes in that sport and changed into pressured to leave within the first 1/2 because of a knee harm.
This positive felt like Ronaldo’s final World Cup, in particular after he changed into dropped to the bench towards Switzerland and will quickly find himself continuing his membership football profession out of doors of a strength league.
And it’s not possible to quantify Saturday’s loss as Morocco anything aside from a unhappiness for one of the Morocco international’s finest gamers ever and for Portugal. Ronaldo’s penalty kick purpose in the first sport of the event against Ghana become his handiest intention of this World Cup, and it’s indisputable that Portugal regarded a lot better with Gonçalo Ramos up front in opposition to Switzerland than it had with Ronaldo leading the front line in any of its different three games.