Issa Diop waited for years for a country that would finally call him. Ismail Saibari built his career in the very country he had just helped eliminate. Monday night in Monterey, there were differences between those two men.
Morocco defeated the Netherlands 3–2 on penalties, after a 1–1 draw after 120 minutes, to reach the last 16 of the World Cup for the second time. They will face Canada on July 4.
Diop had never scored a goal for Morocco before. Born in Toulouse to a Senegalese father and a Moroccan mother, he came from the youth ranks of France and hoped his country would eventually call him. It never did. He made his debut in Morocco in March, during a four-year Premier League career that took him from West Ham to Fulham, a decision that came amid a real dispute between his parents’ two countries of birth over the title on the broken continent. In the 91st minute, with the country he had waited years to pick two minutes from elimination, he rose above Virgil van Dijk at a corner and fired a header past Bart Verbruggen that the goalkeeper never got close to. It was the first international goal of his career.
Highlights | Netherlands vs Morocco
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The Netherlands took the lead in the 72nd minute when a run by Chrysencio Summerville split the Moroccan defense after Cody Gakpo had scored. Gakpo had returned to the team two days after he and his partner announced the loss of their unborn son in October. Rather than retreat, he stayed with the team. After the goal he fell to his knees, head in his hands, and his teammates left the bench to reach him.
None of this was easy to achieve. Saibari’s boot caught van Hecke flush on the head as the two headed into a corner, the contact accidental but the effect immediate. Van Hecke immediately turned on him, putting his arm around Saibari’s neck, stepping in before the referee could move on. No card for either.
Morocco had the better of it on both sides. Hakimi, winning his 100th cap, whipped in a corner that El Ainoui met on the run, only to be tipped over by Verbruggen. Van de Ven took the match on Hakimi before the hour mark, a clean strip that even Hakimi seemed to accept with a nod rather than an appeal.
Then Gakpo’s goal, and nineteen minutes seemed enough.
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Also read | After the death of the unborn child, Cody Gakpo scored the opening goal for Morocco against the Netherlands
Diop’s header changed that. Kemsdine Talbi for Bilal El Khanous, with the clock running down, Diop swung into the corner with everything he had. Six minutes into added time, Soufia almost won it with Rahimi getting a clean strike. Verbruggen stretched himself on goal and somehow did enough to keep the scores level.
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Everything in the match was lost in the shootout. The Koopmeiners opened it for the Netherlands. El Ainoui scored Morocco’s first try against Bar. Kluivert hits the post for the Dutch. Rahimi’s penalty followed on Verbruggen’s own heels after the goalkeeper had brought him down. Weghorst scored to make it 2-1, while Talbi made it 2-2. Wood wide for Dutch. Hakimi against the post for Morocco. Bonneau blocked Summerville’s attempt. Saibari, the last man, sent Verbruggen the wrong way.
Issa Diop had never scored for Morocco before. He did when it mattered. (AP Photo)
There was a certain irony in who took the winning kick. Saibari was born in Spain, grew up partly in Belgium and started his career at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, a country he had just helped relegate. As a teenager, he rejected an approach from Belgium’s senior team ahead of the 2022 World Cup, telling their manager that he had already made his choice. He said his heart was with Morocco.
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As a child, doctors warned his parents that the condition of his feet and legs might stop him from walking properly, let alone playing football for a living.
His family’s path went from Qasr El Kebir in northern Morocco to Spain to Belgium to the Dutch league he now plays in, the same league he beat the goalkeeper from twelve yards.
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Morocco’s players didn’t celebrate so much as collapse. Many prostrated themselves on the turf, pressing their foreheads to the grass. Sybury took off his own shirt. The broadcast lingered on it, simultaneously releasing the same passenger support in green and red.
It is the first time in the country’s history that Morocco have reached the knockout stages of the World Cup in consecutive tournaments, becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar. Bono, the goalie on that run and this one, said before the tournament that the heart of the team was unchanged. Monterey was proof that he was right.
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Gakpo’s goals will be remembered for what took away more than what was won. Diop’s header and Saibari’s penalty will be remembered for continuing the story that Morocco has been writing since 2022.