JAKARTA - The Croatian national team will face Morocco in the race for third place in Qatar's 2022 World Cup. Both teams wanted to end their campaign sweetly.
Croatia vs Morocco will take place at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday, December 17, 2022. Referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim from Qatar, will be the judge on the field.
The two surprise teams almost became the new countries to win the World Cup if they didn't fall into the hands of Argentina and France in the last semifinals.
Now, Croatia and Morocco have the opportunity to return to their respective countries with the title of third place especially for Morocco, which will be a great achievement not only for them but also Africa and the Arab world.
Argentina and France are still too tough and slippery to beat, but it is clear that their semifinal achievement is monumental that should be celebrated.
Morocco made a new history when Walid Regragui's aging troops became the first African team to reach the last four of the World Cup.
Losing or winning a third place fight will not change the status of the Morocco team as heroes for his country. They will remain respected and praised by Africa and the Arab world, as well as those who fall in love with their fairy tale journey in this Qatar tournament.
Croatia and Morocco will face off again after a 0-0 draw in their group stage matches. Their meeting was exactly the match for third place at the 2018 World Cup when Belgium and England met each other in the group phase and the race for third place.
"I will give opportunities to those who have never played and we will try to seize third place," Regragui said as quoted by Antara via Reuters.
"The main thing is we are presenting a great performance for our team and football in Morocco is not far from the top level," he continued.
Meanwhile, Croatia, who are runners-up in the 2018 World Cup, reached the second straight final, indeed too far away, especially since they only won one group stage game.
But their hard work and persistence so that they won on penalties over Japan and Brazil made them meet Argentina in the semifinals. Unfortunately, when they faced Lionel Messi's side, Lionel Messi was in his best form and became the architect of their destruction.
"Just realized, before this tournament started, we were all quite satisfied to be able to reach the semifinals. But then we instead dreamed of winning trophies," said Croatian midfielder Lovro Majer.
"We will give everything we have on Saturday by trying to win a bronze medal," he added.
Tomorrow Atlas Lions will be playing for FIFA World Cup 3rd place 🥉against Croatia 🇭🇷 in Khalifa Stadium 🏟️ at 4PM (GMT+1) 🕓#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 #TeamMorocco #FIFAWorldCup @pumafootball pic.twitter.com/fC55urPkMi
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 16, 2022
For the Croatian golden generation, this is another chance to go home with a medal, especially coach Zlatko Dalic has ensured most of them will not play in the next World Cup.
"We have to be prepared to fight for third place," said Dalic. "We have to get up and try to win this bronze medal."
Croatia had gone through this event at the 1998 World Cup when they defeated the Netherlands in the race for third place that year.
Croatia will exert all its might and efforts for the last time at the Khalifa International Stadium to silence the passionately appearing Morocco.
On the other hand Morocco is more than just a fairy tale that can beat Croatia to re-create history as the first African and Arab world team to finish third in a World Cup.
Croatia has the advantage of an additional one day longer rest than Morocco that they can use as best they can.
However, coach Zlatko Dalic will certainly not take the risk of playing a player who is not very fit and has not fully recovered from injury because he does not want to give up the opportunity to go home with a medal from the Qatar World Cup.
What is certain is that this will be the last World Cup match for Dejan Lovren, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic. Modric is the Croatian player who has defended his national team the most in World Cup history.
One more time. Together.For #Croatia.#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/90wNFXgknz
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) December 16, 2022
Dalic pasti menurunkan kembali Dominik Livakovic karena kiper berusia 27 tahun ini memang tak diganti tempatnya, sebaliknya Josko Gvardiol yang sakit mungkin dikabut dari squad untuk pertandingan melawan Morocco ini.
Josip Sutalo will replace his place to partner with Dejan Lovren at the heart of the Croatian defense, while Borna Sosa and Josip Juranovic will occupy both sides of the defense.
It is also possible that Marcelo Brozovic, who in the semifinals was forced to be replaced due to injury.
Here, Kristijan Jakic will come in to replace him, while Mateo Kovacic and Luka Modric are too vital for Croatian play plans so they will be installed to prevent Morocco's midfield from dominating the pitch as happened against France.
In the last third of the pitch, my two Nikola Vlasic attacks and Ivan Perisic will flank Bruno Petkovic to terrorize Morocco's possible defense as long as France, so Morocco's concentration is shattered and lost hold.
Meanwhile on Morocco's side, the coach Walid Reragui, who said he would play the players he rarely plays, is unlikely to include Yassine Bounou in the package.
The goalkeeper is too valuable to keep on the benches that he keeps the Morocco goal which may be playing in the same formation as Croatia, 4-3-3.
But it seems that Reiragui did not want to take the risk of lowering Nayef Aguerd and Roman Saiss, who in the semifinals against France backfired.
To that end, Achraf Dari and Jawad El Yamiq will be the main choice at the heart of the Morocco defense. They will be flanked by Yahia Attiyat Allah on the left side of the defense and Achraf Hakimi on the right side.
Sofyan Amrabat is also an irreplaceable player. This midfielder will be the axis and heart of Morocco's game Morocco. He will also still partner with Azzedine Ounahi and Seim Amallah to take control of the midfield.
ragui juga akan kembali memasang Sofiane Boufal dan Hakim Ziyech di kedua sayap serangan, sedangkan Youssef En-Nesyri berada di tengah-tengah mereka sebagai trisula serangan Morocco yang kali ini mungkin lebih berhasil membongkar pertahanan lawan.
Prior to this, Croatia and Morocco had met twice, including the goalless draw in the 2022 World Cup group stage. In their 1996 meeting in the semifinals of the King Hassan II Croatia won 7-6 on penalties.
Morocco became the first Arab and African countries to reach the semifinals of the World Cup before surrendering 0-2 to France. Coach Walid Reragui was also the first Arab manager to lead a team into the knockout round of the World Cup.
Croatia, runner-up in 2018, played the playoff for third place in 1998 when they beat the Netherlands 2-1 to finish third in that year's edition of the World Cup.
Croatia recorded a clean sheet in three previous World Cup meetings against African teams which included a 4-0 win against Cameroon in 2014, a 2-0 win over Nigeria in 2018, and a 0-0 draw against Morocco in the 2022 group stage.
Morocco still has the opportunity to become the eighth team in World Cup history to record five clean sheets after the Netherlands in 1974, Italy in 1990, Brazil in 1994, France in 1998, Germany in 2002, Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010.
Predictions of the line-up for third place at the Croatian vs Morocco 2022 World Cup:
Croatia (4-3-3): Dominik Livakovic; Josip Juranovic, Josip Sutalo, Dejan Lovren, Borna Sosa; Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Kristijan Jakic; Nikola Vlasic, Bruno Petkovic, Ivan Perisic
Morocco (4-3-3): Yassine Bono; Achraf Hakimi, Achraf Dari, Jawad El-Yamiq, Yahia Attiyat-Allah; Azzedine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Selim Amalah; Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal
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