Morocco became the first ever African nation to reach the FIFA World Cup semi-finals after recording a famous 1-0 victory over Portugal at Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday.
Youssef En-Nesyri’s first-half goal was enough for the Atlas Lions, who are also the first Arab team to make the last four, to claim a historic win.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal poured on the pressure, but could not find their way through. In the end, heart won over pedigree after Morocco defended their 1-0 goal until the match ended.
With the win, Morocco are the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, succeeding where three before them fell agonizingly short.
Cristiano Ronaldo has likely played his last World Cup match after making an ineffectual appearance as a second-half substitute, failing to score his first knockout-phase goal at the tournament.
Morocco took the lead just before half-time through En-Nesyri’s header, and the Moroccan defence took over from there, stifling the Portugal attack for the full 90 minutes.
Ronaldo started the game on the bench, with Fernando Santos again favouring young Goncalo Ramos who scored a hattrick in their previous match. The Portugal manager decided to bring on his aging striker on the field minutes after half-time as Portugal fought for an equalizer.
It had little effect, as Ronaldo missed his one golden opportunity to change the game later on. Rafael Leao was the true injection of attacking flair, but he was put on the field too late.
Morocco added Portugal to their list of European scalps alongside Spain and Belgium, with a resolute second half performance that brought tears to Ronaldo after the full-time whistle was blown.
Source: Daily Mail, News24 Sport, The Sporting News, SuperSport, image from Twitter: @brfootball