Yassine Bounou (called Bono), the goalkeeper of Morocco who has bewitched Spain- Corriere.it

DOHA He suffered from vertigo during the anthem with Belgium and did not play. On penalties against Spain instead Yassine Bounou was perfect, parrying the shots of Soler and Busquets and taking Morocco to a peak never explored before, that of the quarter-finals of the World Cup. They call him Bono, a curious assonance with the U2 singer, and in fact the goalkeeper who won the Europa League against Inter in 2020 one of the stars of the Atlas Lions who surprised everyone by also winning the group with Croatia, Belgium and Canada.

THEMorocco had reached the round of 16 in Mexico 1986 – and also in that case it was the first African to do so – thanks to another legendary goalkeeper like Badou Zaki, African Ballon d’Or winner in 1986. Bounou, one of the charismatic leaders of the Moroccan team, born in Canada, in Montreal, and at the age of 2 returned to Casablanca, where he trained in football. At 19, the owner’s debut due to injury in the African Champions League final: he loses but makes a great impression.

Then the adventure in Spain, where he has no place at Athletic closed by Jan Obkak. Then the ascent starting from Girona, then Zaragoza and Seville, where he won the prestigious Zamora trophy in front of Courtois – the first club to do it – he remained 528 minutes without conceding a goal and took away the whim of scoring his first goal against his colleague from Valladolid. In the Ballon d’Or for goalkeepers, the Yashin trophy, Bounou finished eighth this year. He climbed some positions for the next edition. No dizziness.