Wow. Wow. Wow.

They’ve done it. The Atlas Lions keep marching on – Morocco are the first African team in history to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, beating Portugal 1-0.

A lot of the focus heading into Saturday’s quarter-final was on their opponents, and in particular whether Cristiano Ronaldo would be recalled to the starting lineup.

He was not.

Portugal had the lion’s share of possession in the opening exchanges, but Morocco were looking dangerous on the counter attack. Just before the half-time break, Youssef En-Nesyri leapt above Ruben Dias and Diogo Costa to head in the opener.

Bruno Fernandes was then the protagonist of the next few minutes, hitting the crossbar with a half-volley, going down easily trying to win a penalty, and being criticised by Nigel de Jong in the ITV studio.

Fernando Santos decided to throw Ronaldo on just after the interval, but it would prove to be a fruitless effort. However, he was not the most negatively impactful substitute – that honour goes to Walid Cheddira, who screwed up several Morocco attacks and got himself sent off.

But in the end, it didn’t matter – Morocco clung on through eight minutes of stoppage time and reached their first semi-final.

But is this the end of the road for Ronaldo? Was this his last chance to win the World Cup? He left the pitch in floods of tears.



Credit: 90min.com

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