FIFA World Cup 2022: Dil Maange More-occco

Morocco stunned former champions Spain in a penalty shootout with Sevillarsquos storied stoppie Yassine Bounou stopping three Spanish shots and the Madridborn Achraf Hakimi chipping in the winning shotThe Arab world is buzzing for one of their own after Morocco entered the history books by becoming the first African side since 2010 to enter the quarterfinals of the World CupMorocco beat former champions Spain 30 via the tiebreakerMoroccon team jerseys were already in demand in the local markets here on the eve of their Roundof16 tie at the Education City Stadium And after the win they are out of stock ldquoThese are firstcopy jerseys and we normally sell them for QR30 Rs 600 approximately but last night the prices shot up to QR60 and today they are not available for QR100rdquo said Saeed Mahmoud who runs a small store near Msheireb in central DohaPassionate supportersBefore the start of the match the passion among the Moroccon fans was evident when the Qatari riot police had to be called in to control a massive group including women and children who were rushing and pushing their way into the stadiumOn the pitch coach Walid Regraguirsquos Atlas Lions competed ferociously and even outplayed the Spaniards at times but somehow failed to put that final ball beyond their goalkeeper Unai Simon They had no such problems in the penalty shootout though Simon was beaten thricemdashby Abdelhamid Sabiri Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimimdashwhile his opposite number Yassine Bounou thwarted Spainrsquos Pablo Sarabia Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets for a famous win Itrsquos no fluke that Morocco have gotten this far in the tournament They topped their group by beating Belgium Canada and drawing with Croatia And if there was even an iota of doubt Hakimirsquos Panenkastyle slow trickling penalty aptly proved that this tiny but confident footballing nation is worthy of these giant strides Coach Regragui revealed how his team systematically broke down Spain ldquoI watched Spainrsquos last 20 matches They had some 70 per cent possession so we agreed that we will not take possession of the ball We admit that we are not yet like France or Germany or England to compete in terms of possession None of us could snatch the ball from them so we instead organised our midfield and defence very well to hold out for 120 minutes We had three of four chances but couldnrsquot take them We wouldrsquove liked to win the game in 90 minutes but we knew wersquod go to penalties with one of the best goalkeepers in the world so we had better chances of advancingrdquo said RegraguiAlso Read FIFA World Cup 2022 Brazil dance their way into quarterslsquoIntuition and luckrsquoBounou however insisted there was no secret to his penaltysaving success ldquoItrsquos a mix of intuition and luck There is no secret to it Penalties are a hit or miss but this win is a gift for Morocco We felt the support of our fans not only here in the stadium but also in Morocco and everywhere elserdquo said BounouThe support from the 44667strong crowd in the stadium was vociferous to say the least with some reports suggesting that the noise touched 150 decibels at times which is like a jet plane taking off Moroccan football sure has taken off