sport news World Cup: Morocco's warriors went to war with Spain and played like their ... trends now The joke doing the rounds when it became clear that Morocco would be playing Spain at this stage was along the lines of ‘the winner gets Andalucia.’ The Spanish military was handed one of its greatest ever beatings during Morocco’s 50-year struggle to get its own lands back and Luis Enrique’s players received a little taste of what the nation’s troops had faced in that fight for independence. They stepped out into a war zone: an unremitting cacophony of whistles which lasted for as long as Spain kept possession and revealed, in the process, the aimless nature of how long they held onto that ball on a featureless road to nowhere. Morocco caused another World Cup upset by knocking Spain out of the World Cup last-16 An energetic man with the number 91 on the back of his replica Atlas Lions tops was, literally, the band-leader, leading the sea of Moroccan fans as they chanted to the beat of two drums, glancing anxiously over his shoulder each time the side threatened. Enrique, in T-shirt and brown chinos, appeared unmoved but he wasn’t the one having to contend with Moroccans going at it like their lives depended on it. As his players were vigorously dispossessed – Achraf Hakimi upended 19-year-old Pedri and Hakim Ziyech delivering something equally emphatic to Jordi Alba – you wondered about the ethics of sending those boys into this. It was never going to be easy. No fewer than 24 of the 26-man Moroccan squad here play their football overseas. The Moroccans were going at it like their lives depended on it as Spain dominated possession The warriors on this field were Moroccan and they were ready for war against the Spanish Their serried ranks of red shirts called out for something dynamic, unexpected and world class but it evolved into the same old template from the one-time colonialists, whose team were as pale as their sky blue shirts. When Xavi and Iniesta were with Sergio Busquets in this team, they were breaking the lines and the rules of the template. The team left behind plays in the pre-ordained straight lines. That doesn’t win World Cups. The futility of this pursuit was revealed when Ferran Torres, on the Spanish right, finally made it to the dead ball line after half an hour or so. He looked up to contemplate a wall of four red shirts, who’d all seen exactly where that passage of play had been heading. He’d been calling for the ball out there as if anyone could hear in an environment like this. When Torres plays for dynamic, line-breaking Barcelona, he looks like a player. Here, Noussair Mazraoui of Bayern Munich gave him one hell of a beating. Luis Enrique called on heavy artillery to break down Morocco's defence but failed The warriors on this field were Moroccan - Sofiane Boufali, playing with Marcus Llorente on the left touchline to cross. The strikers were Moroccan – Ziyech, whose reinstatement by coach Walid Regragui has been more than vindicated, thrashing a shot from that cross. Spain required some heavy artillery and Alvaro Morata, if you might call the man that, did eventually arrive. But when another of the substitutes, Nico Williams, ran a ball down to the dead ball line and he crossed from the right, there was only green grass in the six-yard box where you’d expect a striker to be. That’s Morata: a player who has tempted so many of the great European clubs – Chelsea, Juventus and both Madrids - yet who has never been prolific. His best contributions were to provide chance, not take them. The moment and the opportunity were enormous when Aymeric Laporte floated a free kick over to Morata at the end of normal time. He headed his free hit over the bar. There was an acceptance of pure footballing defeat from Enrique, two minutes before the end of extra time, when Williams, one of the few Spaniards who can hold his head up high after this, was removed from the field. Morocco goalkeeper Bono made two saves in the penalty shootout to send Spain packing Spain's players cut dejected figures after failing to score a single penalty in the shootout If he’d actually done his homework, he would have known that his penalty-takers would be up against Yassine Bounou, the 31-year-old goalkeeper whose career has gone from strength to strength since joining Sevilla from Girona. Bounou muttered under breath as he prepared for kicks: motivating himself for what proved to be the night of his life. His efforts left it to 24-year-old defender Achraf Hakimi, who did not flinch when the night’s last penalty was taken. Hakimi was born in Madrid and does not speak a word of Moroccan Arabic. The team’s bilingual coach was actually translating questions for him into Spanish after Morocco’s previous game. Recruiting him was worth it. Those years as Spain’s small neighbour have delivered more value than Morocco could ever have imagined. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility