Morocco “flew” from the..white dot to the “16” (they will face Canada on 4/7-20:00 in Houston), prevailing 3-2 on penalties over the Netherlands (1-1 in 120′) at the “Monterrey Stadium” (51,243 spectators).
The first half in Monterrey was tight, sometimes tense and subtly balanced. The Netherlands, although they had a greater percentage of possession, did not have their first shot on goal until the end of the half. Before that, Morocco had forced Bart Verbrugghen into two excellent saves.
Morocco started the second half with intensity, exerting more pressure on the ball, making it difficult for the Dutch, who felt relieved when Hakimi’s shot (in one of his two significant moments at the beginning of the second half) hit the post in the 52nd minute.
And yet it was the Dutch who made the turnaround. Cody Hapko, having experienced a personal tragedy in the previous days (ed.: his partner had an abortion), showed great courage while playing and became the man who broke – by scoring (72′) – the deadlock for the Netherlands. After a wonderful run and an off-balance touch on goal by Crescencio Somerville, he opened the scoring (1-0) and then burst into tears, while all his teammates hugged him.
But the “Atlas Lions”… came back and in the first minute of extra time, with a header by Issa Diop – from a cross by Tabli – they equalized (1-1) sending the match to extra time.
There, Verbrugghen kept the Netherlands “alive” by stopping (97′) a shot by Rahimi from the small area. The game continued between caution and adventure, with Morocco in full control and the Netherlands a little further back in a solid 4-5-1 without possession, having abandoned any thought of offensive pressure.
Nothing changed and somehow the game went to penalties. There, Yacine Bonou made a decisive save and Ismael Saibari converted the fifth penalty into a goal, giving Morocco qualification.
THE PENALTY SQUAD Koopmeiners 1-0 El Ainaoui crossbar Kluifert crossbar Rahimi 1-1 Wegorst 2-1 Tabli 2-2 Timber out Hakimi crossbar Summerville save Bonou Saibari 2-3 Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kaabi was on the bench.
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
Yellow cards: Diop (Morocco)
The compositions of the two teams:
NETHERLANDS (Ronald Koeman): Verbrugghen, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Ake (71′ Koopmeiners), Dumfries, Grafenberg (86′ Timber), De Jong (110′ De Roon), Van de Ven (86′ Hatto), Somerville, Hakpo (113′ Kluivert), Brombey (71′ Wegorst)
MOROCCO (Mohamed Wahbi): Bonou, Hakimi, Diop, Riyad (75′ Salah Eddine), Mazraoui, Bouadi (79′ Mourabet), El Ainaoui, Brahim Diaz (79′ Yassine), Unahi (86′ Rahimi), El Hanoush (86′ Talbi), Saibari.