Only football does this. In the end, it had to be him. After two tense, enthralling, exhausting hours and seven agonising minutes lived on the edge, the moment came, Achraf Hakimi standing on the spot, the world watching. Raised in Madrid, one of 17 footballers born beyond Morocco’s frontiers who help make up this marvellous team, forged from home and the diaspora, his was the seventh penalty in the shootout. It was also an opportunity to send the Atlas Lions into the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time – and eliminate the country where he grew up.
Pressure, what pressure? Hakimi barely broke into a run, virtually walking up, and dinked gently into the net. The scene was serene, the flight of the ball too but not for long, bedlam taking over. He shuffled a little dance and smiled. In front of him, fans exploded. Behind him, teammates sprinted his way. Together they made for Yassine Bounou, goalkeeper and hero who waited, arms wide. Then they fell to their knees and prayed.
