His title is Yassine Bounou, he represents Sevilla and threatens to change into one in every of the figures of the World Cup. He saved two penalties that despatched Spain house and added a number of saves that helped hold Portugal out of the semi-finals.
In each video games, naturally, he was named man of the match.
Interestingly, Yassine Bounou (or Bono, as he wears it on his shirt) has a behavior of smiling when he makes save: he was observed when he did it in penalties towards Spain and he did it when -again this Saturday with Portugal. The smile, in reality, is one in every of the hallmarks of the Moroccan goalkeeper.
But who is Bounou?
Born in Montreal, Canada, on April 5, 1991, he returned to Morocco at the age of three: his father was an engineer and he had a proposal to work in the State, in Casablanca, while instructing at the Hassania School of Public Works.
So the household returned house and it was on the streets of Casablanca that Bounou developed his ardour for soccer. At the age of eight he began taking part in in the youth group of WAC Casablanca.
The son of an upper-middle-class household, Bounou apparently went to coaching by taxi.
At that point the boy had a dream to change into a participant and rating objectives. The top, nevertheless, ended up betraying him and a coach confirmed him the intention. He fell in love with the place, was impressed by the idols Buffon and Van der Saar and, in a number of years, developed to the level of changing into a promise.
The most troublesome factor was the opposition of his dad and mom, who tried to maintain him away from a sport they didn’t know and didn’t perceive.
«I do not need you to spend so much of time on soccer», his father informed him, who insisted that he ought to dedicate himself to his research.
At the age of 17, nevertheless, Bounou was already on the scene to the level of being signed by Nice, which ended up convincing his dad and mom, who since then immersed themselves in the recreation and discovered the guidelines. in soccer. The switch to France ended unfulfilled, as a result of bureaucratic issues, however the goalkeeper’s profession was positively launched.
He satisfied Diego Simeone, disillusioned with Spain and considering of returning to Morocco
From there it was a relentless climb.
He started coaching with the important squad of WAC Casablanca and at the age of 19 he made his debut as a starter for one in every of the greats of Morocco. The first match was, in reality, a trial by fireplace: defending the group’s aim in the last of the African Champions, in entrance of seventy thousand followers.
WAC misplaced to Esperance de Tunis, however Yassine Bounou left impression. He made fifteen video games in the beginning line-up.
At the finish of that season, and benefiting from the incontrovertible fact that his contract was up, he determined to strive his luck in European soccer. This is a part of a tour of At. Madrid, satisfied the accountable of the Spanish membership and employed him to affix the B group.
Times weren’t straightforward, although.
For two years he solely performed in the second division and in Morocco nobody understood why he selected to go to a department as a substitute of renewing a giant one in the nation.
“They informed me I made a giant mistake. Many instances I thought of going again to Morocco, however now I understand that I suffered properly. The membership behaved properly with me », he stated.
In 2013-14 he was a part of the important squad and was taken by Simeone ten instances on the bench of the group that grew to become the Spanish champion and misplaced in the Champions League last, in Lisbon, to Real Madrid.
That summer season, nevertheless, he was loaned to Zaragoza for 2 years. Girona then adopted, which he represented for 3 years, till 2019 he arrived in Seville.
Hired on mortgage to interchange Tomasz Vaclik, in the first season he solely performed in the Copa del Rey and the Europa League, which turned out to be excellent news: Sevilla gained the European competitors and Bounou was instrumental. Especially for the huge performances towards Wolverhampton, in the quarter-finals, and towards Man. United in the semi-finals.
He ended up being completely signed, grew to become a starter and began signing with de Bono on the jersey: an abbreviation associated to the phonetic similarity of the title.
He hit his head and discovered that he certified for the World Cup … in the hospital
In Seville, furthermore, he made historical past many instances. For instance, he broke Beto’s document for the most minutes with out conceding a aim, was elected the finest goalkeeper in the Spanish League (Zamora Award) and is one in every of the ten finest goalkeepers in the world in the race for the Ballon d Or (Yashin. Award).
The World Cup that he performed is subsequently not a shock.
He additionally stood out when he scored a aim in Valladolid, in a last-minute rise to the spot, which earned Sevilla a draw and a tasty level.
“The coach gave me permission to go as much as the opponent’s space. It’s a transfer that I like and I’m grateful for the alternative it gave me. The fact is that it is a tremendous feeling, it is onerous to explain, I do not know methods to have fun », he confessed at the finish of the recreation.
In the center, he gained the title of the Moroccan nationwide group, he who in 2018, in Russia, didn’t go away the bench. He already defended the aim in the 2019 African Cup of Nations, for instance, and has since change into one in every of the figures of the nationwide group.
In the decisive qualifying recreation for the World Cup in Qatar, he was hit in the head, needed to be taken by ambulance and in the hospital he discovered that Morocco assured qualification.
In January of this yr, throughout the 2022 African Cup of Nations, he stood out by making a type of diplomatic incident in a press convention.
The goalkeeper selected to reply questions in Arabic, prompting overseas journalists to ask him to translate into French or English. Bounou replied that he was not a translator and the press officer of the African Football Confederation then requested him to reply in one in every of the two official languages of the competitors: exactly French or English.
Clearly offended, Bounou refused to take action and blamed CAF for the poor group of the press conferences. «If you do not have a translator, it is your drawback», he shot him.
This is in all probability one in every of the few conditions the place the goalkeeper didn’t smile. He has such a behavior of responding to each state of affairs with an open snort.
In Qatar, he was observed for his miraculous rescue … and for the torn smile.
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