6 records on the night of defeating a world champion

Moroccan players: tactical discipline, European professionals, and the goalkeeper behind the supremacy of the "Atlas Lions"

• The Moroccan national team did not know the taste of losing in the last 5 consecutive World Cup matches.

  Reuters

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The Moroccan national team hit several birds with one stone in its historic match against Spain in the round of 16 of the World Cup Finals (Qatar 2022) the day before yesterday, in which it was able to overcome by penalty kicks with a score of 3-0, after the end of the original and extra time with a draw without goals.

In addition to winning and qualifying for the eighth round of the final, in which it meets Portugal on Saturday evening, the “Atlas Lions” team achieved distinguished numbers, as it became the first Arab team to qualify for that stage of the tournament, and the fourth African team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, after the achievement of Cameroon 1990 and Senegal 2002, and Ghana 2010.

It also became the first African team to win a penalty shootout in the history of the World Cup, since its inception in 1930, and a team set a personal record for it, as it did not know the taste of losing in the last five consecutive World Cup matches, thus equaling the African record, recorded for Cameroon in the number of matches. himself without defeat.

Morocco's supremacy gave Spain a negative number that it had not achieved in the World Cup since 1966, as it was only able to threaten its opponent's goal once in the first half, a number that the Spaniards had not known since that date.

On the individual level, the duo Ashraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech became the most Moroccan players representing their country in the finals for the seventh time, after they participated in three matches in the 2018 World Cup, and four confrontations in the 2022 World Cup.

Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou wrote his name in the World Cup as the first Moroccan and African goalkeeper to save two penalties in one match in the history of the World Cup, and Walid Regragui became the first Arab and African coach to lead a team to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Former Moroccan players who are currently working as coaches agreed that their country deserved to beat Spain and qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup. They told Emirates Today that the tactical discipline, the mentality of Regragui and the professionals made the glory of the Atlas Lions.

For his part, the former Emirates Club and Ittihad Kalba player, Moroccan Nabil Daoudi, said, “There is more than one reason why the (Atlas Lions) appear at this distinguished level, foremost among which is the presence of a group of professional players in the largest European clubs and their appearance mainly in their teams, which made He made them not intimidate such situations in which they were placed, and the other thing that I see as more positive and contributed to the success of the Lions in the World Cup in Qatar is the presence of coach Walid Regragui at the head of the technical staff of the Moroccan national team.

He added: «Regraki combines the European mentality in managing the affairs of the team and the sense of patriotism and the extent of the impact of the results on the happiness of the people in particular, so he returned more than one player who was excluded by the former coach Khalilozic, led by Hakim Ziyech and Naseer Mazraoui, and this added a lot to the strength of the Moroccan team in the tournament. ».

In turn, the coach of the Al-Bataeh team, Moroccan Saeed Shakhit, stressed that "the Moroccan national team performed a disciplinary match at the highest level, especially in the defensive part, and if there had been success for the attackers in the opportunities that we had, we would not have reached the penalty shootout."

He said: «It is not easy for any team to stop the danger of the Spanish national team, which is known for its tremendous ability to possess, as the best team in the world that enjoys this advantage, but the discipline of the players and their implementation of the instructions of coach Walid Rakraki, whom I consider the star of the first meeting undisputed, the team reached the result it wanted from The meeting, and makes that great Arab joy ».

He added, "Thanks to the coach's realism, the Atlas Lions knew how to score clean sheets, despite the difficulties that occurred to the team, including injuries and physical exhaustion during the course of the match, but the result in the end came in our favor."

As for the technical supervisor of Al-Bataeh Club, Moroccan Ali Harrath, he confirmed that the Moroccan national team presented one of its best matches in the tournament against Spain, and came out of it without a single technical or tactical error that we can stand at.

He said, "The match between Morocco and Spain confirmed to us that it is not possible to advance in major world championships without having a goalkeeper at the highest level of competition, such as Yassin Bounou, who is credited with the greatest victory during the penalty shootout period."

He added: «I think that the timing of the World Cup during the month of December and after a period of the start of the local season in Europe and Morocco has contributed significantly to the Lions entering the World Cup while they are in the best possible readiness, whether technically or physically, in contrast to the World Cup in June and July. The players, in general, are not fully physically and technically ready, and appear in the World Cup after a rest period, which negatively affects the levels of most of the teams participating in the tournament.

The 6 numbers

1- Morocco is the first Arab team and the fourth African team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

2- The first African team to win a penalty shootout in the history of the World Cup.

3- The Moroccan national team did not know the taste of losing in the last five consecutive World Cup matches.

4- The duo Ashraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech are the most representative Moroccan players for their country in the World Cup finals.

5- Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou is the first Moroccan and African goalkeeper to save two penalty kicks in one match in the history of the World Cup.

6- Walid Al-Rakraki, the first Arab and African coach to lead a team to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

To view an electronic supplement .. the World Cup teams,

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