Achraf Hakimi scored the decisive penalty and sent a message with his celebration, sending Morocco through to the quarter-finals of the Qatar World Cup and eliminating Spain in the process. The Round of 16 tie went to penalties after neither side could find a goal in 120 minutes, with Morocco winning the shootout 3-0.
Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler, and Sergio Busquets missed all three penalties for Spain, with Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saving from Soler and Busquets. It was double the agony for Sarabia, who also hit the post on the volley in added time at the end of extra time. Although Badr Benoun had his penalty saved by Unai Simon, both Hakim Ziyech and Abdelhamid Sabiri had scored for Morocco before his miss.
Paris Saint-Germain right-back Hakimi, who was born in Madrid and spent ten years at Spanish giants Real Madrid, then scored a Panenka to knock the country of his birth out.
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Rather than immediately celebrate wildly though, Hakimi then celebrated by turning around and waddling on the spot like a penguin. It was rather subdued for a man who had just sent his country to a World Cup quarter-final for the first time in their history.
But for those who don’t know, there was a message in Hakimi’s celebration.
Hakimi’s Celebration a Subtle Message to Luis Enrique
Hakimi signed for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 for a reported £51.3 million. That same summer, the club also signed Real Madrid and Spain legend Sergio Ramos.
The pair have a great relationship with each other and have their own celebration which you can view below.
La célébration Ramos x Hakimi 😅 #PSG #Hakimi #Ramos pic.twitter.com/LwGJlfhw9x
— MyFoot_Tv (@MyFoot_Tv) August 2, 2022
It is the same celebration that Hakimi did after scoring the penalty, and many have speculated that it was a message from the 24-year-old to former Spain manager Luis Enrique after he left Ramos out of his World Cup squad.
Ramos holds the appearance record for Spain and his experience arguably would have benefitted Spain on the biggest international stage. He made his senior debut against China in 2005 and has gone on to make 180 appearances for the national team. His most recent appearance for Spain was in March 2021.
Despite suffering from injury problems in recent years, Ramos has regained his fitness and has been a regular for PSG this season. The 36-year-old has made 13 appearances, including 12 starts. After recovering from his injury issues, Ramos said he was disappointed not to have been selected for the World Cup.
Ramos is also a proven penalty taker, scoring 30 out of 34 penalties in his career. After Spain’s elimination last night, Enrique’s decision to leave him at home might now be criticised from another angle.
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Morocco and Spain Both Become History-Makers
Hakimi’s penalty meant both Spain and Morocco became history-makers last night, but for very different reasons.
Spain’s elimination gives them the unwanted record of being the first nation to lose four penalty shootouts at a World Cup. They went out in 1986 to Belgium, in 2002 to South Korea, and in 2018 to Russia prior to this loss to the Atlas Lions
Meanwhile, Morocco advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time. They are only the fourth African nation to make it to this stage (Cameroon 1990, Senegal 2002, Ghana 2010). However, no African team has made it to the semi-finals. If Morocco beat Portugal on Saturday at the Al Thumama Stadium, they will become the first to do so.
Last Word on Football recognise Qatar’s human rights abuses and instances of corruption taking place throughout the nation and in the background of the World Cup. Learn more about some of the issues surrounding the World Cup here.
