CNN
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Morocco made history on Saturday as the first African side to reach a World Cup semi-final, beating Portugal 1-0 to continue their sparkling run in Qatar.
Youssef En-Nesyri scored the game’s only goal, rising high to head the ball into the net minutes before half-time, as the Moroccan defense once again kept a clean sheet.
The Atlas Lions became one of the stories of the tournament, holding fellow semi-finalists Croatia to a group stage draw and beating Belgium, Spain and now Portugal en route to a semi-final. .
“Before, only Moroccans supported us, now it’s Africans and Arabs,” manager Walid Regragui said ahead of the quarter-final, referring to the electric atmosphere that accompanied his side in every game.
And Al Thumama Stadium erupted with cheers, drums and whistles on Saturday as if almost an entire continent and region were inside, seeing their team go down in history.
Portugal’s loss marked the end of what will likely be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup as even he couldn’t breach the Moroccan defense and was left in tears in the tunnel after the kick. final whistle.
More soon..
