The Croatia of the experienced Luka Modric and a historic team of Morocco faces are seen again in this Qatar World Cup, although on this day of Saturday they collide for a consolation prize in the third and fourth place match.
For the captain of the Balkan squad, this game has a special addition, possibly be your last participation in this contest. He will leave behind four final phases of the planetary event, a beautiful journey that began in Germany 2006 and in which he wrote the most brilliant page in Russia 2018 with the runner-up, the designation as the best player of the tournament and the subsequent Ballon d’Or.
Modric, like his teammates, intend to put a finishing touch, as did that unforgettable generation in France 1998 of Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki and coached by Miroslav Blazevic. It would be a prize with which to overcome the penalty for not having been able to repeat presence in the final.
Not only Modric could say goodbye to the World Cups. It seems complicated that two other footballers who have also made history, such as center back Dejan Lovren and winger Ivan Perisic, who are 33 years old, may be in the next edition. The latter could become the top Croatian scorer in the tournament’s history and leave Suker behind.
Nothing better to complete the World Cup recognition of the “immortal” Modric, as striker Andrej Kramaric described it, than to take third place, an objective set in the locker room after the semi-loss against Argentina.
Once known as the “consolation final”, it is, once again, a matter of pride for Croatia, a new final. But it is also true for Morocco, which will try to put the icing on the cake of a historic, indelible World Cup, in which Walid Regragui’s team became the true revelation and the first African to reach a semifinal.
Pride and heart are plenty for Croatia and Morocco, who opened their participation on November 23 with a confrontation between them in Al Bayt for Group F. Nobody would have imagined then that they would see their faces again at this point.
That 0-0 was the letter of introduction, a warning, of what the “Lions of the Atlas” were going to do. Along the way they left Belgium, third in Russia 2018 and aspiring to go very far, Canada, before which they certified the surprising leadership of their group, and already in the qualifiers to other powers like Spain and Portugal without conceding any goal.
Praised by Regragui’s team for their spectacular defensive performance, only the almighty France could stop them in the semifinals, before which they showed that they did not have just that resource. He exhibited good football at the Al Bayt stadium, where he was clearly superior to Didier Deschamps’ men for a good part of the match. Only their lack of settlement and the efficiency of the Gauls kept them from an even more incredible milestone as the final would have been.
Croatia, which despite presenting itself with the runner-up band was not among the candidates, also progressed with a competitive character and serenity in penalty shootouts against Japan and Brazil, in which the goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic emerged to fully enter the group of the best in his World Cup position, which also includes the Moroccan Yassine Bono.
– probable lineups:
Croatia: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Sutalo, Sosa; Modric, Jakic, Kovacic; Vlasic, Petkovic y Perisic.
Morocco: Bono; Hakimi, El-Yamiq, Dari, Attiyat-Allah; Ounahi, Amrabat, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri and Boufal.
The duel between Croatia and Morocco will be will play this saturday at the Khalifa International Stadium and with arbitration by the local Abdulrahman Al Jassim, from 12:00 p.m. in our country. You’ll be able to follow all the action along with the coverage of Outdoors in Cooperative and the AlAireLibre.cl Virtual Scoreboard.