Guadalupe, June 30: Ismael Saibari scored the decisive goal in a penalty shootout, and Morocco sent the Netherlands to its earliest World Cup exit, eliminating the Dutch 3-2 after a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
With the shootout tied at 2-all after four rounds, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou made a strong save of Crysencio Summerville’s attempt, batting it away with his left hand. Saibari then sent the winner into the low left corner as goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen went the other direction.The Netherlands had reached at least the round of 16 in 11 previous World Cups, including a quarterfinal appearance four years ago, when Morocco reached the semifinals.
Cody Gakpo scored in the 72nd minute for Netherlands. After the goal, which was assisted by Summerville, the Dutch bench ran onto the field to embrace the 27-year-old Gakpo, who broke down in tears. Gakpo and his partner, Noa van der Bij, recently announced that they lost their unborn child.
Morocco’s Issa Diop tied it in the 91st minute, heading in a long cross from Chemsdine Talbi.Neither team had a strong scoring opportunity in 30 minutes of extra time at Estadio BBVA.It was the second game of the tournament to conclude with a shootout. Paraguay beat Germany on penalties earlier Monday.The teams entered with the highest combined ranking of any Round of 32 match. Morocco was sixth in the world and the Netherlands was seventh.
Morocco will now advance to the Round of 16, where they will look to continue their impressive World Cup run, while the Netherlands are left to reflect on a campaign that ended much earlier than expected despite entering the tournament as one of the favourites. (AP)
