Reporter Han Bing reports Only unexpected, not impossible. Morocco, which has bid to host the World Cup five times, is just an "accompaniment" of other big countries each time; in the last World Cup in Russia, they were the first team to lose among the top 32, and it was the Iberian duo who sent them out at that time; but This time, after defeating Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds, Morocco itself became one of the protagonists of the World Cup.
Two stars who played for Sevilla and broke out. En-Nesri scored a lore goal. Goalkeeper Bunu kept a clean sheet for the fourth time in this cup. Morocco entered the top four of the World Cup with a record. This is not only the pride of African football, but also the pride of football in the Arab world—the World Cup in Qatar is the first major competition held in the Arab world, and an Arab team has entered the top four, which is enough to make up for the real host Qatar’s loss in the group stage.
En Nesri's goal in the first half is certainly important, and it gave Morocco the capital to continue to defend and lead the score. But the real destiny is the goalkeeper Bunu who has not allowed any opponent to break through the ten fingers in the cup so far. Only 1 goal was conceded in 5 games, and no goal was scored by the opponent. This is the best defensive performance of a World Cup team after the 2006 champion Italy. In the unfavorable situation where the main defensive line Argyle and Mazraoui are absent, the Moroccan team still completed this miracle, which is even more admirable.
Because of the absence of the two main defenders, the Moroccan coach Regraghi's tactics are more active, but he wants to seize the opportunity and let the game follow Morocco's familiar defensive counterattackrhythm. In the 42nd minute, the opportunity the Moroccans were waiting for finally came. Adiyat made a cross from to from the left. Portuguese goalkeeper Costa made a mistake. En Nesri scored with a header and broke the deadlock for Morocco. The Sevilla striker scored 3 goals in the World Cup and is already the player with the most World Cup goals in the history of the Moroccan team.
It is worth mentioning that after Morocco faced Egypt in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in January, they won all 7 times with leading scores, and it was also the 8th clean sheet opponent in the last 9 games. The World Cup has 4 half-time clean sheets in 5 games, and Argyle scored an own goal only against Canada. This cup is also second only to Brazil and Argentina, which have 5 half-time clean sheets.
In the first half, Morocco had more shots and shots on target than the more famous and powerful Portugal. In the second half, the captain Seth was injured and retired, and the substitute striker Shetila was sent off with a red card. The coach Regga had to make substitutions, with 5 guards defending, and finally survived to a record victory. This is the 50th appearance of goalkeeper Bunu for Morocco. He is the first goalkeeper in Africa who can keep his opponent clean 3 times in the World Cup.
Following the 1/8 final 3 saves the Spanish team penalty, the 31-year-old Bunu once again became the hero of Morocco. This is not surprising, you must know that last season he overwhelmed Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois was elected the best goalkeeper in La Liga . No accident in this World Cup, he will also have a high probability of winning the best goalkeeper award and entering the best team of the event.
Bunu’s father is a professor of physics at a university. He immigrated to Canada for work Quebec , but Bunu’s mother could not adapt to the local cold weather. After settling in Canada for 8 years, she brought 3-year-old Bunu back to Morocco. As a result, Bunu's football enlightenment career has been spent on the streets. He can only practice on the slope of the parking lot, or draw goals on the wall, using trash cans as goalposts. In his early years, he firmly believed that he would become a shooter, but at the age of 11, he followed the advice of his coach and changed to a goalkeeper, which opened the door to success in life.
Participating in the African Champions League 10 years ago made Bunu famous, and then the La Liga giants Atletico Madrid signed him. But under Simeone's account, he has not been reused, which has also depressed the Moroccan goalkeeper to this day. He continued to be rented out until he arrived in Seville in 2019, and he really proved his strength. Bunu has always dreamed of playing for the Argentine River Plate team. His pet dog is named Ariel, which is a tribute to the Argentine goalkeeper Ortega . Now, Bunu has led the team to the top four of the World Cup with his own efforts, but if he wants to have a chance to confront Argentina, he must first accept the test of Mbappe and big Giroud . Of course, success or failure, he and Morocco have been successful enough to have no regrets.
