Izuchukwu Okosi
Ten-man Morocco in Saturday evening became the first ever African nation to reach the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 win over Cristiano Ronaldo captained Portugal reports Prime Business Africa.
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The Atlas Lions had a very disciplined performance with goalkeeper Yaccine Bounou reacting sharply as early as the 5th minute to dive down to his left and turn behind Joao Felix’s diving header, which was sent towards the centre of the goal. It was a superb cross from Fernandes’ right-sided free-kick.
From Hakim Ziyech’s outswinging corner, En-Nesyri spurned a golden chance to open the scoring; mistiming a free header from only a few yards out and sending the ball over the crossbar.
Another fine chance to score went astray for En-Nesyri, who again mistimed his header. This time, the striker turned Ziyech’s inswinging free-kick over the crossbar when virtually unmarked in the area.
Bounou and Fernandes collided in an aerial challenge. Once the goalkeeper accepted the Portuguese midfielder’s apology, he then cleared his lines from a free-kick inside the area.
Four minutes into the second half Costa reacted smartly to repel the ball at close quarters, after El Yamiq connected with a Ziyech free-kick from the right flank. The goalkeeper spread his body and kept the ball out, before the rebound struck the defender again and went behind.
Morocco were reduced to 10 players after a second half yellow card to a player but remained resolute until the final whistle.
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Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
