Moroccan Players Give Yassine Bounou Victory Toss After Historic Win vs. Spain
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Moroccan Players Give Yassine Bounou Victory Toss After Historic Win vs. Spain originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Morocco will be doing a lot of celebrating in the coming days after pulling off a major upset over Spain in the World Cup round of 16, and nobody deserves to party harder than Bono.
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has been a brick wall throughout the tournament. The team only conceded one goal – an own goal, no less – during the group stage, and the defensive dominance carried into the knockout stage against Spain.
Bounou and the Moroccan defense maintained a scoreless tie through 120 minutes, prompting the country’s first ever penalty shootout in a World Cup match. Despite the inexperience compared to its European opposition, Bounou proceeded to lead Morocco in convincing style.
Spain was unable to score on any of its three PK attempts. Pablo Sarabia clanked Spain’s first attempt off the post before Bounou blocked Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets on the ensuing attempts.
One or two saves could have been enough for Bounou to lift Morocco to a win. Abdelhamid Sabiri, Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi gave Morocco three goals on its first four attempts, but Bounou’s heroics earned him a full-team celebration.
Moroccan players lifted Bounou into the air and gave him a victory toss shortly after the match. The team followed that up by giving manager Walid Regragui similar treatment.
With the win, Morocco is in the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time. Bounou and the Atlas Lions will look to keep the party going on Saturday when they face either Portugal or Switzerland in the World Cup quarterfinals.