"On penalties, with one of the best goalkeepers in the world, we knew we had more chances to pass."
The sentence is from Walid Regragui, Morocco coach, who praised his goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, after his team's victory against Spain after a penalty shoot-out.
The two teams had indeed failed to decide between themselves during the 120 minutes of play, Tuesday, December 6, in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
The hopes of the Moroccan supporters then rested on the precision of the penalty takers of the Atlas Lions and the talent of goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
This 31-year-old player, present for ten years in the Spanish championship where he defends the goals of Sevilla FC in club, made two successive saves against Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets who, after a first shot on the post of Pablo Sarabia, allowed Morocco to qualify for the quarter-finals.
A performance that earned him the title of best player of the match awarded by Fifa.
😎 The #FIFAWorldCup is where heroes are made - that's exactly what Goncalo Ramos became tonight.
A hat-trick, an assist, and tonight's @Budweiser Player of the Match award.
Incredible!
👏
🇵🇹 #PORSUI🇨🇭 #POTM #YoursToTake #BringHomeTheBud pic.twitter.com/5WkId0Fp6o
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 6, 2022
"Imperial throughout the match, very calm despite the size of the stakes, Bounou imposed himself as a veritable iron curtain against La Roja", writes the Moroccan daily Le Matin.
A newspaper which reports the modest remarks made by the Moroccan goalkeeper after the match: "Penalties are a little bit of intuition, a little bit of luck. We won, that's the most important thing."
"An intellectually brilliant guy"
Before the match against Morocco, the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique, explained that he had made a requirement to his players for this World Cup.
"I warned them. They had to arrive with at least a thousand penalties taken with their clubs. There will surely be a knockout match where we will have to go through a penalty shootout," said Luis Enrique the day before the eighth of final.
This preparation does not seem to have disturbed Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who calls himself Bono.
He had already had the opportunity to challenge the Spanish players many times over the past seasons.
He also told the ESPN Argentina channel, in perfect Spanish tinged with a strong Argentinian accent, that he had not particularly focused on the habits of Iberian shooters before the duel against Spain.
A statement that he could have made in French, Arabic or English, this player born in Canada mastering these different languages.
"He is first of all an intellectually brilliant guy, who is always smiling", declares about him in L'Équipe Patrice Beaumelle, former assistant coach of Morocco.
"An extraordinary man who always had the right word, who supported everyone when things were not going well, a super positive guy in the life of a group."
Last minute withdrawal against the Belgians
Passed successively since 2012 by Atletico Madrid, Real Zaragoza, Girona FC then Sevilla FC, Yassine Bounou was crowned best African player in La Liga last season.
Because he won the prestigious Zamora Trophy which rewards the La Liga goalkeeper who has conceded the fewest goals, with a total of 24 in 31 appearances.
🏆 Yassine Bono, #TrofeoZamora of #LaLigaSantander 2021/22.
🔝🧤#WeareSevilla #NuncaTeRindas
— Sevilla Fútbol Club (@SevillaFC) May 22, 2022
In the ranking of this award, Bono notably beat Thibaut Courtois, goalkeeper of Real Madrid and Belgium, a team that Morocco beat in the group stage (2-0).
He was unable to keep Morocco's goals during this confrontation, on November 27, having to leave his position in extremis to goalkeeper Munir El Kajoui.
Victim of a blow during the previous match, Yassine Bounou was dizzy a few minutes before kick-off against Belgium, just after the anthems, forcing him to undergo a battery of examinations at the hospital.
Holder against Spain, the Moroccan goalkeeper has shown that he was fully recovered from this misadventure.
And Morocco will need him 100% again for their next match, against Portugal.
Facing a team that has already scored 12 goals in this World Cup in Qatar, Bono knows that the challenge will be particularly high in the quarter-final.
He will strive, once again, to keep his clean sheet.
Of the three matches he played during this World Cup, he was beaten only once: an own goal scored by Moroccan defender Nayef Aguerd against Canada.
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