Credit, Catherine Mueller – FIFA
Yassine Bounou celebrates Morocco’s victory after the game between Morocco and Portugal
Morocco achieved what many considered impossible at the World Cup in Qatar.
By beating Portugal this Saturday (10/12) by 1-0, it became the first Arab and African team to qualify for a semi-final.
There are eight games without losing and also seven without conceding a goal.
Such size is due, in part, to goalkeeper Yassine Bouno, better known as Bono.
“We are here to change mindsets and end inferiority,” said 31-year-old Bono. “Morocco are ready to face anyone in the world, beyond the semi-finals and everything else.”
Bono has caught the eye at this World Cup for such feats as he showed in the game against Spain, when he saved two penalties and didn’t allow La Roja to score a goal. goal in 130 minutes.
This match, which sent the Spanish national team home, became a historic milestone for Moroccan football.
“We changed that mentality and the generation that will follow us will know that Moroccan players can perform miracles,” Bono said.
Bono saved two penalties against Spain and didn’t allow a goal in 130 minutes
The goalkeeper, who curiously spent most of his career in Spain, has a leading role in Sevilla, the team he defends.
His performance led him to be considered the ninth best goalkeeper in the world at the Golden Ball Awards when he received the 2022 Yashin Trophy and won his first Zamora Trophy as the goalkeeper with the fewest goals scored during the 21-22 season.
Bono became his side’s hero in March 2021 against Valladolid, scoring a 93rd-minute goal to tie the game. This feat of a goalkeeper had not been achieved for a decade in the Spanish Championship.
Bono’s performance in the August 2020 semi-finals also saw Sevilla overcome Manchester United 2-1 to claim their sixth UEFA Europa League title.
Yassine Bounou celebrates with his son the team’s 1-0 victory after the match between Morocco and Portugal
Argentinian “at heart”
Yassine Bouno was born far from Morocco: in Montreal (Canada). He returned to the country of his fathers at the age of seven.
From a very young age, he was interested in football and was part of the Wydad Casablanca club, but his father was opposed to him devoting himself to sport. However, Bono insisted on becoming a professional player.
He left Morocco when he was signed by Atlético de Madrid. The experience was not what he expected and he gave up. He spent two seasons with Zamora (2014-2016) then with Girona (2016-2019). Until it ends in Seville.
His life is linked to Spain. However, it is known that he is a big fan of Argentine football and a fan of River Plate. “The first shirt my dad gave me was from Argentina,” the goalkeeper said a while ago.
Bono is considered the ninth best goalkeeper in the world after receiving the 2022 Yashin Trophy
A close relationship to which we attribute his particular Argentinian accent. “I’m more Moroccan than anything. What happens is that when I arrived in Spain, I learned Spanish with the Argentinians and I ended up with the accent,” he said. he explained one day.
His great idol is Ariel Ortega, a former Argentine footballer better known as “El Burrito Ortega”. Bono even admitted in an interview that his dog was named Ariel, after the River player.
Now the eyes of the world are on Morocco. The goalkeeper’s gloves gave the African team their best World Cup performance since the World Cup in Mexico in 1986.
Will it be Bono’s turn to face the Argentine national team?
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