Penalty passes do not exist: Morocco beat Spain and is among the eight in the world

In the first half, the ‘Fury’ lacked intensity, as if the fact of dressing in light blue, had snatched his soul and uprooted his story. He had 70% control of the ball, and made 400 passes. That is to say, among his players the ball was lent about 400 times. A monstrosity. But they only finished off once, and the shot was off target. A left-footed shot from Asensio that collided in the side net, but more than that it was an ‘ufff’ to wake up the respectable. Therein lies the deception of the statistics. Numbers without interpretation are useless data.

In the preview, more than one analyst wondered what would happen if the Moroccans caged Busquets and did not allow him what Costa Rica allowed him on the first date, for example. And the silence became eternity. What Luis Enrique will never say in his broadcasts on Twitch is that his great weakness is not having a plan B. Spain is predictable. If you make them uncomfortable, as Amrabat did, they become unbalanced.

The Spanish tiki-taka who rose to the top in 2010 ran more risks, because he had David Silva, Jesús Navas and Iniesta, a dancer on a tile, a star of pique in short. Is Spain They only have Nico Williams, and Luis Enrique trusted him since the last quarter of an hour of the second regulation period. Ferran Torres may be his son-in-law and love him very much, but he does not have that electrifying overflow. Feint yes. The theory is known. But let’s say he studied remotely by zoom. Dani Olmo has more plasticity, but he is not a dribbler either. And Pedri and Gavi, are two brains that, no matter how talented they are, have the worst football mistake in these times: at twenty they jog the pitch.

To talk of Morocco you have to stand up. They had not reached these instances since Mexico 86. And today they reaffirmed their credentials: Group F leaders above the Russia 2018 podium: Croatia, the runner-up and Belgium, the third in the world. The only goal they conceded in the group stage was an own goal. In principle for having a goalkeeper like Bono, who despite playing with fire in his area is a huge keeper, and for his solidarity in defense, where the midfielder Amrabat stands out. Above, the Moroccans wreaked havoc thanks to Boufal’s waist and Ziyech’s left foot.

But it was Hakimi -that winger who rubs shoulders with Messi, Mbappé and Neymar at PSG- the hero of this historic victory, which must hurt the xenophobic Spaniards a lot: he took the final penalty to beat Unai Simón and decree the 3- 0 from the twelve steps. Spain did not score a single goal against Bonou: Sarabia, Soler and then Busquets failed. Morocco is among the eight best in the world. The only surprise of the round of 16 so far. The match is over. And meanwhile, Spain continues playing and playing until the end of time.