Morocco delivered a seminal moment in the nearly 100-year history of soccer's biggest tournament, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team 1-0 Saturday in another shocking result in the first World Cup staged in the Middle East.
While a tearful Ronaldo headed right down the tunnel -- and maybe into international retirement -- after the final whistle, Morocco's players tossed their coach in the air and waved their country's flag as they linked arms in front of celebrating fans.
Africa is also rejoicing at finally having a nation advancing to the levels typically only reached by European or South American teams. Cameroon , Senegal and Ghana all reached the quarterfinals but got no further. The five-time world player of the year is set to finish his career without capturing the World Cup or ever getting to the final. He walked right off the field after the final whistle, only briefly stopped by two Morocco players wishing to shake his hand and a spectator who confronted him near the entrance to the tunnel, and was crying as he headed to the locker room.
There's no reason why this Morocco squad -- coached by French-born Walid Regragui and containing 14 players born abroad -- cannot go all the way to the title. They topped a group that included second-ranked Belgium and fellow semifinalist Croatia and have now taken down two of Europe's heavyweights in Spain -- after a penalty shootout in the round of 16 -- and Portugal in the quarterfinals.
In a game played to the backdrop of non-stop whistles and jeers by Morocco's passionate fans, the team relied almost exclusively on counterattacks and scored from one of them.
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