Morocco’s players set off in pursuit of Ismael Saibari and, once they had caught up, lost one another in a pile of exhilarated bodies. Maybe they are about to do it all again and make a heavy dent in the latter stages of a World Cup. This was certainly a huge hurdle cleared and there were echoes of 2022 when Yassine Bounou, hero against Spain back then, repelled the Netherlands’ fifth penalty. Crysencio Summerville had struck it straight at him, the latest error in a strange and wobbly shootout; Saibari showed rare mental clarity to accept the gift.
Earlier on another bundle had engulfed Cody Gakpo. Football is a vessel for myriad thoughts and feelings so it was an intensely affecting moment when, after he had rammed his team into a 72nd-minute lead, the entire Dutch squad piled on to the pitch in joy. More than that, they had done so in support. Gakpo had elected to play despite the announcement that he and his partner had tragically lost their unborn son. He was tearful upon making his way back to the centre circle, pointing to the sky and being comforted by his teammate Denzel Dumfries.
There are other timelines in which Gakpo’s goal was the winner, with easy words spoken about sport’s redemptive nature carrying the day. But there will always be infinitely more important things than football, however the game behaves. It tends to carve its own path and has never relinquished the right to be viciously cruel. In the first minute of added time the Morocco substitute Chemsdine Talbi checked on to his right foot and whipped over a sumptuous cross that Issa Diop, rising at the back post, headed in thrillingly. Morocco had what they merited and the Netherlands’ desolation was visible.
Ronald Koeman will come under scrutiny for what, to the semi-trained eye, seemed an act of cowardice. The Netherlands had been imperfect during the group stage but scored seven times against Sweden and Japan, adding three more in a dead rubber with Tunisia. No team managed a higher tally but he did not trust his players to outshoot Morocco. The standard 4-3-3 was jettisoned, along with the midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, and a five-man back line was tasked with keeping things tight.
Everyone had been denied the predicted ding-dong. Afterwards an unrepentant Koeman claimed he had got it right and, not unfairly, pointed out Morocco were a different level of opponent. Ultimately, the switch brought a scratchy, cautious display in which they allowed Morocco 70% of possession. They did not offer a threat until shortly before half-time when Micky van de Ven’s piledriver was tipped over by Bounou. By then their own keeper, Bart Verbruggen, had already bailed them out and Morocco raised the tempo after the restart.
Yet Koeman was minutes from being able to afford himself a slap on the back. Morocco were firmly in charge when the second half reached its midway interruption but the pause meant Wout Weghorst could be wheeled on for the ineffective Brian Brobbey. It was inevitable one of Fifa’s hydration breaks would, at some point, materially affect a crucial knockout game. Within seconds Weghorst had flicked on a Verbruggen clearance for Summerville to run through, hooking the ball to Gakpo as he was challenged. Gakpo did his bit, the emotions spilling out, and as the minutes ticked down it seemed enough.
For that short spell it appeared the Netherlands might thrive through the rope-a-dope that took them to the final in 2010. This had been a spiky, tetchy affair from the outset, the countries’ deep-set ties adding a layer beyond the natural tension of a meeting between well-matched foes. Jan Paul van Hecke was in the wars three times during the opening period, his head bleeding on the third. The niggly challenges kept coming and then there was pantomime needle in the stands, local supporters keen to remind the Netherlands of an event that passed 12 years ago to the day. Back then they beat Mexico in the last 16 with a late penalty after a dubious Arjen Robben tumble. Those fans happily joined Morocco’s contingent in booing every Dutch touch early on.
Verbruggen saved acrobatically in quick succession from Neil El Aynaoui and Achraf Hakimi but Morocco were short of their fluent selves against Koeman’s roadblock. It was Hakimi who led the second-half charge with a series of clever underlapping runs, Van de Ven making a crunching last-ditch tackle on one of them. The Netherlands had no control until they were allowed to reset and deploy the battering ram.
Diop eventually wrested it back for Morocco and extra time was a staid affair, Verbruggen brilliantly denying Soufiane Rahimi in the only meaningful action. It would come down to a test of nerve from 12 yards. Both teams had failed once when Verbruggen reached Rahimi’s penalty, seemingly saving it only to see the ball squirm in off his trailing heel. Koeman would later highlight it as a sliding-doors moment. Quinten Timber dragged horribly wide and Hakimi rapped a post before Bounou and Saibari could bask in glory. Canada await Morocco next; a bleak day for Europe’s powers has opened the door to Africa’s best.
