Our 3️⃣ points as magical Morocco make history by dumping out Spain | OneFootball

Spain exited the World Cup after a penalty shootout nightmare as Morocco made history by reaching their first ever quarter-final.

This is what we made of it.

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Spain’s penalty curse strikes again

Luis Enrique revealed before the game that his side were perfectly prepared for the eventuality of penalties.

And they should have been too, given that they had exited the last two international tournaments after a shootout (to Russia in 2018 and Italy at Euro 2020).

The Spain boss admitted that his players had been given ‘homework’ before the competition to each practice 1,000 penalties.

But as the old adage goes, you can’t practice for pressure and when it was on, La Roja crumbled.

Pablo Sarabia was brought on at the end of extra-time for the sole purpose of taking a penalty and after hitting the post with the final kick of the game, he hit it again in the shootout. He had one job and failed to do it.

In the shootout, Sevilla’s Bono had the edge in goal, saving easily from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets. When it comes to penalty shootouts, Spain are stuck in a moment they just can’t get out of.

A beautiful day for Africa

Morocco are into the last eight of the World Cup for the first time in their history, having only previously made the knockout phase once.

And north Africa and the continent as a whole will be carrying them on their shoulders as they now aim for further history.

The Atlas Lions follow on from Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) to become the fourth African nation to reach the World Cup’s quarter-final stage and the first Arab country to do so.

And what a moment for the man who masterminded it too: coach Walid Regragui, who became the first African manager ever to go this far in the competition.

The former Morocco international only took over almost 100 days ago and has already written his name into the history books.

His ability to deal with his country’s bigger stars and their personalities as well as his exceptionally organised tactics mean they will be a nuisance to all who remain in Qatar,

What a way to win it

There are penalties and then there are Panenka penalties.

This was not a vintage shootout, with losing teams at this World Cup now having managed just one successful spot kick conversion between the two of them.

But the best of it was saved for last when Achraf Hakimi stepped up with the chance to seal a stunning 3-0 win in the shootout.

And he casually chipped a perfect low penalty down the middle to send his nation through for an iconic World Cup moment that will be replayed for years to come.

The PSG defender was born and raised in Madrid to Moroccan parents and rejected approaches in the past to represent the country of his birth.

What a decision it is proving to be.