Ice-cool Hakimi seals victory as Morocco's heroes dump Spain out of World Cup


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

As all around him lost their cool, Achraf Hakimi kept his.

He even did a Panenka. A Panenka, with all that history in his hands, with all those thousands holding their breath in the stands on top of him and the many millions no doubt doing the same back home.

But he simply chipped home his penalty, the winning penalty, to knock out Spain and send Morocco through to the World Cup quarter-finals. A first World Cup quarter-final, 36 years after their only other attempt to make it that far.

Hakimi, the Madrid-born full-back, had vanquished Spain, those 2010 champions, settling a tense but thrilling goalless encounter at Education City Stadium on Tuesday with one swish of his ice-cold boot. Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets all missed from the spot for Spain, or rather goalkeeper Bono repelled them, the last line in that wall of resolute red.

Just like the 2018 global finals and last year’s rescheduled Euro 2020, Spain would suffer another shoot-out heartache – their fourth in five at the World Cup – but this should be all about Morocco.

Not given much chance of escaping a group containing Belgium and Croatia, they reside now as the fourth African side to make the World Cup last eight, the first from the north of the continent to do so. They are the first Arab representative to have survived this far at a global finals.

In Qatar, they haven’t been beaten; they haven’t even been breached by an opposition player. The solitary goal conceded in four matches came from their own defender, Nayef Aguerd.

Walid Regragui, the recently appointed manager with the instant Midas touch, labelled it pre-match as “the biggest game in our history”, and his mighty men grabbed it with both hands. Morocco were, as they have been for much of the tournament, monumental; Spain sent packing.

Unpacking that previous 120 minutes was no envious task. Spain dominated possession, with 77 per cent of the ball, but Morocco probably carved the clearest chances. Moments before half-time, Sofiane Boufal tricked enough room to cross, and Aguerd headed off target. Unmarked, and yards from the Spain goal, it seemed easier to score.

Morocco 0-0 Spain (Morocco win 3-0 on penalties) - player ratings

But Spain pressed forward. For much of the second-half, Morocco couldn’t get a hold of the ball. Pushed ever deeper, they were in danger of being picked apart. But they preferred instead to puff out their chests.

Sofyan Amrabat, a one-man barricade in central midfield, blocked brilliantly from Nico Williams. In injury-time, Bono pushed away Dani Olmo’s in-swinging free-kick. In between, substitute Alvaro Morata headed woefully off target having snuck around the back of the Morocco defence at a free-kick.

In the first half of extra-time, Morocco thought they had snatched it. Azzedine Ounahi rolled in Walid Cheddira but, faced with only Simon to beat, the substitute could not place his effort beyond the Athletic Bilbao stopper’s legs.

With the last kick before spot-kicks, Sarabia struck the outside of the Morocco post with a volley. He then did the same with his penalty, Spain’s first that set the tone.

Then Abdelhamid Sabiri scored for Morocco, Hakim Ziyech, too. Soler saw his spot-kick saved, Badr Benoun suffered the same fate. But Busquets could not get past Bono, the Morocco goalkeeper leaping to his right to set the stage for Hakimi. In truth, Spain were tame from 12 yards.

Hakimi, the star player in a team crammed with soon-to-be-similar, placed down the ball, inhaled deep, blocked out the thousands waiting with bated breath and dinked home a Panenka. He was soon swallowed up by teammates; not long after, Regragui got the bumps.

Morocco had bumped out Spain, and chiselled their place in the record books.

Morocco fans celebrate their victory - in pictures

Ultra processed foods

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- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces

- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,

- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.

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The finalists

Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho

Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson

Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)

Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid

Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match

Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

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  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Challenge Cup result:

1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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Updated: December 07, 2022, 10:23 AM`