Cristiano Ronaldo showed the country the dream of winning this elusive trophy when he came to play in the World Cup for the last time. But could not. Ronaldo’s Portugal are out of the World Cup after losing 1-0 to African lions Morocco. Morocco became the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
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Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best footballers in the world, is sitting on the side bench for the second match in a row. In the third quarter-final, one of Europe’s strongest teams, Portugal, and African giants, Morocco, meet at the Al Thumama Stadium. In the 42nd minute of the match, Morocco’s Youssef N-Nessiri put the ball in Portugal’s net with a great header.
Portugal played with clear dominance throughout the match. Portugal had 65 percent of possession and Morocco only 35 percent. But the Moroccans scored a remarkable goal in every attack.
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Atiyat-Allah’s excellent cross from the left side jumped up to be caught by Portuguese goalkeeper Diego Costa. But before that, Sevilla striker N-Nessiri ran up and hit the ball on the head. The ball went into the net of Portugal. N-Nessiri missed two more headers before this goal.
In the 45th minute, the Portuguese were unlucky to have the ball hit the bar. Bruno Fernandez took the ball from Dalat’s flick and took a wonderful shot from the right wing. But the ball rebounded off the Portuguese’s top bar.
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After returning from the break, coach Fernando Santos brought Ronaldo to the field. The Portuguese stormed Morocco’s defense in a momentary attack. In the 59th minute, Ramos failed to touch Otavia’s cross from outside the box.
In the 65th minute, Portugal got a chance to score again. But Bruno Fernandez’s superb shot went just over the bar. Bruno fell into despair.
In the 83rd minute, Morocco’s goalkeeper Natyak Bunu from the previous match saved Morocco from conceding a certain goal. Bunu saved the corner by jumping to the right when he took a great shot from the inside of the D box.
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In the 90th minute, Bunu blocked Ronaldo’s right-footed shot from inside the D-box. In the 92nd minute, Morocco’s Chedira received a second yellow card, reducing the African team to 10 men.
Morocco’s Aboukhalil missed a golden opportunity to score in the 95th minute. He could not score even after finding the Portuguese goalkeeper alone. In the 97th minute, Pepe’s great header went through the goal, and Portugal lost.
At the very end of the match, Portugal could not score two goals As a result, Portugal left the World Cup empty-handed. And making history, Morocco reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.
