Boomer & Gio’s NFL picks star and WFAN’s master of custodial arts, Yussef, saw his magical sports year continue Saturday when his home country, Morocco, became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semifinals with a 1-0 win over Portugal.
Morocco’s goal came in the 42nd minute, when Youssef En-Nesryi put a header past Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa. The Portuguese almost tied it up just before the half, but Bruno Fernandes’ boot just clipper the crossbar and bounced to safety.
The Moroccans the held on for the second half, although Portugal had quite a few huge chances late that were foiled by Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou, who made a huge save in the 83rd minute on Joao Felix’s bender from just outside the box, then stuffed a near-breakaway by all-time great Cristiano Ronaldo just into the eight minutes of second-half stoppage time.
Morocco played the final five-plus minutes down 10-on-11 when Walid Cheddira got his second yellow card in the third minute of stoppage time for a foul on Felix – but they almost made it 2-0 on a breakaway in the sixth minute of stoppage time that was foiled by Costa.
Portugal had one last chance in the eighth minute of stoppage time, but a cross went wide of the goal, and Morocco held on to make history.
Earlier this week, Morocco had become the first Arab nation to reach a World Cup quarterfinal, and now, as they advance to face the winner of the England-France quarterfinal to be played later Saturday, they have done what three other African nations failed to do: win a quarterfinal.
Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), and Ghana (2010) had all previously reached the final eight, but the first two fell in games that went to extra time, and Ghana lost in penalty kicks.
The one highlight for Portugal is that Ronaldo, who subbed into the game in the second half, set an international record with his 22nd appearance in a World Cup match, this one possibly the last for the 37-year-old first-ballot Hall of Famer, who also saw his tenure with Manchester United in the English Premier League end just before Thanksgiving.
The Atlas Lions will now move on to the semis, facing the England-France winner at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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