Meet Yassine Bounou: The man who barred Spain from the FIFA World Cup | Football news

NEW DELHI: Eight or nine times out of ten, players are expected to score from the penalty spot or on penalties. But history has it that some of the greatest players of all time also missed the spot.
To the fifa world cup, some of the missed penalty kicks have become part of folklore. Who can forget Michel Plaitini’s loss to Brazil in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final or most infamous of all: Roberto Baggio’s loss to Brazil in the 1994 World Cup final.
Sometimes the shots are wayward and sometimes the shots are stopped by the goalkeepers.

The percentage of goals scored from penalties is so high that no blame is placed on the goalkeepers if the goal is scored, but if the goalkeepers stop any of the penalties, they are considered heroes.
Now think about it Yassine Bounou which stopped not one but two penalty kicks as Morocco stunned Spain in a shoot-out to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in their history.
After 120 minutes without a goal at the Education City Stadium (regular time + extra time), Spain failed to score a single spot kick Bounou saved two and Paul Sarabia hit the post.

Bounou, nicknamed “Bono”, blocked the shots Charles Soler and Sergio Busquets and left Ahraf Hakimi to settle the tie with an unnerving kick to drive the predominantly Moroccan crowd in the stadium crazy.
Morocco is only the fourth African team to reach the round of 16 of a World Cup after Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.
2010 World Cup winners Spain failed to knock down the athletic Moroccan side, with Bounou saving well on Daniele OlmoIt’s a free-kick on one of the best occasions of regulation time.

Born in Montreal, Canada, the 1.80cm tall Bounou moved to Morocco at an early age and is now playing in his third FIFA World Cup. The tall goalkeeper also played for Morocco’s under-23 team at the 2012 Olympics.
At club level, Bounou plays for Sevilla in Spain and has won the Europa League in 2020 with the Spanish club, who beat Inter Milan 3-2 in the final.

Morocco’s quarter-final opponent on Saturday will be Portugal. Both teams are aiming for their first World Cup title, but the Moroccans have already made World Cup history. And they have a certain Yassine Bounou to thank for that.
How great his contribution was in Morocco’s victory against Spain was evident from the celebrations that followed the winning kick. The Moroccan players flocked to Bounou, congratulating him long after the match was over.
Now he will try to prepare for the Portuguese challenge. The quarterfinal match will kick off at 8:30pm IST on Saturday, December 10th.