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Morocco replaced their goalkeeper after the national anthems, and not even the commentators noticed

Morocco replaced their goalkeeper after the national anthems, and not even the commentators noticed

Morocco's number One was replaced in Mysterious Ways, as the Sevilla keeper was swapped out with just seconds to go before the Belgium game.

Morocco goalkeeper Bono lined up ahead of their World Cup game with Belgium, but the team's number one didn't even start the game.

After a 0-0 draw with Croatia, Morocco went into their second game of the tournament knowing a positive result would keep their dreams of getting through to the knockout stages well and truly alive.

The African side had impressed in the game with the finalists from four years ago, actually managing more shots than their European opponents.

Despite that, goalkeeper Bono still had to make a very good save from on loan West Ham forward Nikola Vlasic, to keep the two sides level.

The Sevilla keeper, along with the other 10 starters from the first game, was named in the starting line up to face Belgium on Sunday Bloody Sunday afternoon.

He came out with his teammates and the camera panned on him as the national anthem was sung, ahead the two sides kicking off.

However, by the time the team came to take their squad photo, between the anthem and the game starting, Bono was no longer around.

Instead back up keeper Munir was standing alongside the rest of the team, and took his place in the starting line up as the game started.

Amusingly when he made his first save of the game, just five minutes in, from Michy Batshuayi, the commentators gave Bono the credit for the save.

It then took until the 38th minute of the game until the BBC acknowledged that it wasn't such a beautiful day for the Sevilla shot stopper, although there was no clarification why.

"This is fun. We’re going to get an exact time on exactly when the commentators realise Bono is not the man in goal for Morocco," one fan amusingly pointed out ahead of the 38th minute.

"This is the maddest thing Bono has done since he tried to drop a U2 album on everyone’s iPhones without permission," another joked.

One fan really wasn't happy the BBC hadn't noticed, complaining, "Every time the BBC commentator incorrectly calls the Morocco keeper Bono I rage a little bit inside, as he’s in my lineup," before adding a very good point, "Also, how do you get injured during the national anthem?"

According to reports, Bono complained of feeling ill right before kick off and asked his manager to be replaced, with Munir stepping in at the very last minute.

Munir with his teammates. Image: Alamy
Munir with his teammates. Image: Alamy

Presumably Walid Regragui then told his first choice goalkeeper, 'Well, we'll do it with or without you...'

Despite having very little notice before he was going to play, it's not like the replacement in goal had a Bad half or anything, although he only had one shot to save.

Morocco actually came closest in the first 45 minutes, with Hakim Ziyech thinking he'd scored directly from a free kick, it would have been the Sweetest Thing after a relatively dull first half.

Unfortunately, VAR adjudged Romain Saiss was offside and in the way of Thibaut Courtois so it was ruled out.

Featured Image Credit: BBC Sport

Topics: Football, Football World Cup, Belgium