Spain star Rodri has insisted that his country did not deserve to get knocked out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Morocco on Tuesday, saying the African side "offered absolutely nothing" in the game.
Morocco staged a huge upset in the round of 16 on Tuesday evening, when they beat 2010 world champions Spain via a penalty shootout at the Education Stadium to become only the fourth African team to reach the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
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La Furia Roja were the dominant side in the match with 77% of the ball possession, and made 1 019 passes as opposed to Morocco's 305 passes.
However, the Atlas Lions were defiant and organised in defence as they restricted their European opponents to just one shot on target during the 120 minutes.
In the shootout that followed, Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and Spain-born fullback Achraf Hakimi were the heroes for the north Africans as the former made crucial saves to deny Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets, while the latter scored the winner with a cheeky panenka finish to beat Unai Simon.
The result left a bad taste Manchester City midfielder Rodri's mouth, who has since criticised Moroccans for their approach to the game.
"Morocco offered absolutely nothing, without disrespecting them," he said, according to the Daily Express.
"In the game, they did nothing. They just waited for the counters.
"They stayed behind and tried to counter us."
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Speaking to RTVE, he added: "They were very clear about how they wanted to play.
"There's not much more to say, penalties are like that. We're going home, it's one of the worst days.
"We expected 11 guys behind, it's complicated, it's frustrating.
"I wish someone up there would have helped us.
"Football is cruel sometimes. The team gave it our all, I think we deserved to go through."
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