Man City star bitter after Morocco ‘offered absolutely nothing’ vs Spain in World Cup last-16 tie

Lewis Oldham
Man City star Rodri

Man City midfielder Rodri has been left fuming after Spain were knocked out of the World Cup at the last-16 stage by African side Morocco.

Spain were fancied to go far in the competition after they hammered Costa Rica 7-0 in their World Cup opener.

The European side were less prolific in their remaining group stage games as they drew against Germany and lost against Japan.

This handed Spain a tough tie in the round of 16 as they came up against Morocco.

The African side have been one of the surprise packages in Qatar. They beat Belgium and Canada to top Group F ahead of Croatia.

Spain and Morocco could not be separated over 90 minutes or in extra-time as they played out a goalless draw.

Luis Enrique’s side dominated possession as they were expected to, but they lacked a cutting edge in attacking areas.

Despite this, they did come mighty close to winning the game right at the end of extra-time. Pablo Sarabia struck the post for Spain from close range as the game went to penalties.

Spain were awful in the penalty shootout as they were unable to score any of their spot-kicks. Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets all failed to find the net.

A panenka from Achraf Hakimi settled the game as Morocco won the shootout 3-0. They will now face Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Rodri was clearly unimpressed to exit the competition. He hit out at Morocco post-match as “they did nothing”.

“Morocco offered absolutely nothing, without disrespecting them,” Rodri claimed (as reported by Daily Express).

“In the game, they did nothing.

“They just waited for the counters. They stayed behind and tried to counter us.”

According to RTVE, he added: “They were very clear about how they wanted to play. There’s not much more to say, penalties are like that.

“We’re going home, it’s one of the worst days.

“We expected eleven guys behind, it’s complicated, it’s frustrating. I wish someone up there would have helped us.

“Football is cruel sometimes. The team gave it our all, I think we deserved to go through.”

Current Spain boss Enrique is out of contract and he has refused to commit his future to the national team for the time being.

“This is not the right time,” the 52-year-old said. “It’s not relevant and it’s not important.

“My contract is going to end but as you know I am very happy with the national team and the federation. I’ve always had great support from (sporting director Jose) Molina.

“I would always carry on but of course, we need to think about what is best for me and what is best for the national team.”

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