Morocco beat European giants Spain on Tuesday via penalties in a Round of 16 FIFA World Cup clash after the game ended goalless during normal and extra time. Current PSG star Achraf Hakimi impudently slotted away the winning penalty and preceded to aim a dig at Spanish head coach Luis Enrique during his celebrations, inspired by Club teammate Sergio Ramos.
Spain are the latest victims of what has been an upset-filled World Cup. However, the result proved to be less of a surprise given the exploits of the Moroccan national team this tournament.
The African giants topped their group containing Belgium, Canada and Croatia after amassing 7 points from the three games. Furthermore, Morocco’s defense has been far and away the best in this year’s tournament in Qatar. Walid Regragui’s men have only conceded once so far and that was an own goal, such has been their defensive prowess through the likes of former Wolves defender Roman Saïss and current West Ham centre-back Nayef Aguerd.
Morocco won the penalty shootout 3-0 after an abysmal performance by the Spanish from 12-yards out. And it was former Real Madrid prodigy Achraf Hakimi that put the final dent in Spain’s qualification hopes, chipping the goalkeeper to send Morocco to the quarter-finals in what was the ultimate show of ‘ice in the veins.’
However, it was Hakimi’s celebration that grabbed the headlines due to the subliminal message it sent to Spanish head coach Luis Enrique.
Hakimi hit out the ‘penguin’ celebration, waddling along on the spot. This is a celebration that him and his close friend and teammate Sergio Ramos have adopted, often pulling off the celebration together should one of the two players be involved in a goal for club side PSG.
Sergio Ramos was surprisingly left out of the Spanish 26-man squad for the FIFA World Cup, much to the dismay of many Spain fans considering his upturn in form this season, as well as the lack of top-quality options in that position.
Many football fans believe that Ramos’ exclusion from the World Cup squad was deeper than the former Real Madrid captain just being off-form and is influenced by Enrique’s bias towards Barcelona and against Real Madrid.
So, upon knocking Spain out of the biggest tournament in world football, Hakimi decided to dedicate his winning penalty to his good friend Sergio Ramos by doing their celebration, clearly sending a message to Luis Enrique.
The events that unfolded on Tuesday evening are sure to have put a smile on Ramos’ face as many still try to make sense of his exclusion. Furthermore, Spain’s all-time top appearance maker has a phenomenal record from spot-kicks, meaning he could have added some much-needed value to La Furia Roja’s penalty lineup.
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