世界杯大冷门：迪奥普补时绝平点球取胜，摩洛哥淘汰荷兰

Today we're talking about a big World Cup upset: Morocco knocked out the Netherlands on penalties.

The Netherlands is a traditional European power, while Morocco comes from Africa.

Before the match, many thought the Netherlands would win, but the one to go out, in the end, was the Netherlands.

First, a word on this Morocco team.

Actually, Morocco has grown stronger and stronger in recent years, the pride of African soccer.

At the last World Cup, they fought all the way to the semifinals, making the whole world remember them.

So today's upset isn't really that "cold" — Morocco long ago proved they have the quality to go toe to toe with strong teams.

Here's something else special: no matter where they play, Morocco's fans are especially many and especially passionate.

Many Moroccans live all over the world, and come match day, they come from all directions, turning the stands into a sea of red.

The team fights on the pitch, the fans roar off it — this kind of force can often help a team hold on a little longer.

Let's look at the match.

This is the knockouts, lose and you go home, so both teams played cautiously.

For a long time at first, neither could score.

In the second half, the Netherlands' Gakpo seized a chance and scored, one to zero.

The Netherlands led, and looked set to win the game.

Morocco was behind, time running shorter and shorter, the situation very unfavorable.

But Morocco didn't give up.

Just as the game neared its end and entered stoppage time, Morocco's Diop scored a crucial goal.

One to one!

Morocco leveled the score at the very last moment.

This goal saved Morocco and dragged the Netherlands into the situation they least wanted.

By the knockout rules, a draw goes first to extra time; still level after that, and it's penalties.

Across thirty minutes of extra time, the two still couldn't be separated, the score still one to one.

In the end, the game came to the cruelest thing of all: a penalty shootout.

In a shootout, the two teams' players take turns shooting, with only the keeper defending, and whoever scores more wins.

By now the contest is no longer just footwork, but the mind.

In the end, Morocco withstood the pressure and won the shootout three to two, knocking the Netherlands out.

How to view this game?

For the Netherlands, this is a very unfortunate defeat.

They'd already been ahead, only to be leveled at the last moment and then lose the shootout — truly a regret.

For Morocco, this is another win to be proud of.

Behind until the last moment yet still able to level, and then to beat the Netherlands in a shootout — this never-give-up spirit is exactly where they're most formidable.

Once again Morocco told the world: African soccer can no longer be underestimated by anyone.

This game also shows us how important the last goal is.

Had Morocco not scored that stoppage-time goal, the game would have ended right there, and they'd have gone home.

But precisely because they held on to the last second, there came the extra time, the penalties, and this victory.

So on the soccer pitch, never give up early — as long as the whistle hasn't blown, anything is still possible.

That's Morocco knocking the Netherlands out on penalties — an upset that belongs to those who persevere.