After the bad defeat against Argentina, Croatia recharged their batteries, determined to conquer the medal of third place at the World Cup against the tournament's revelation Morocco.
The coach, Zlatko Dalic, who prepared the match as if it were the final, is convinced of this: "I have the utmost respect for Morocco, which is one of the biggest surprises, and they think like us, so they will play with the best team possible at the moment, just like us. In fact, only those who are 100% ready will play. Everyone would like to take the field, but we will really carefully weigh everyone's conditions," explained the coach at the press conference, adding that he will decide the formation as soon as before the match.
"We'll talk again to then make a final decision - explained Dalic -. Now this is a slightly different challenge compared to 1998 (Croatia's first third place at the World Cup, ed) because we achieved even greater success with second place in the 2018. Maybe bronze was more important then, but this won't be any less. Being third or fourth makes a big difference."
Luka Modric will certainly not be missing on the pitch, who at 37 will then have to decide his international future.
"I hope Luka will continue to stay with us, but obviously his decision is his."
"Morocco reminds me of us four and a half years ago. They deservedly reached the semifinals with their quality and they have grown a lot during the tournament, so we face a tougher game than the previous one - said Mateo Kovacic, they remember the 0- 0 in the group stage - They have become a team full of motivation and energy. Full respect, congratulations for what they have done."
Morocco in the finals, 'no consolation'
- Croatia and Morocco would have preferred to play for the World Cup, but instead they will find themselves dueling to win the loser's final, which offers 'only' third place at the Qatari World Cup.
The Croatians had breathed the air of the final which counts just four years ago, in Russia, for the Moroccans to compete for the most coveted trophy in the world would have been incredible.
However, the so-called final for the bronze medal is, which represents the best achievement for an African national team.
Appointment today, at 16 Italian time, in the Khalifa International Stadium of Al Rayyan, where Morocco will take the field without their captain and central defender Romain Saïss, with a thigh injury.
The confirmation came from coach Walid Regragui, at a press conference.
"'My' players are ready and will try to play until the end, however we won't risk some of them, especially our captain, who is injured," said Regragui.
Among other players in doubt, the Morocco coach mentioned defenders Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui, as well as striker Youssef En-Nesyri.
Regragui expects a game "once again tactical", but "less blocked" given the different stakes compared to the semifinal.
"This game is annoying to play, managing a disappointment is always complicated - he admitted -. It's difficult to embellish the match and fill it with meaning; it's the Sunday final we wanted to play. However, we'll fight for it."
The Moroccan coach returned to the refereeing decisions in the semi-final against France,
would we have qualified for the final?
We can't say, but in any case the penalty was there for us.
This must be underlined, as all federations do.
I repeat: nothing changes, we also wish France good luck, but I think we were penalized by not conceding a penalty and at least by a yellow card to Sofiane Boufal."
would we have qualified for the final?
We can't say, but in any case the penalty was there for us.
This must be underlined, as all federations do.
I repeat: nothing changes, we also wish France good luck, but I think we were penalized by not conceding a penalty and at least by a yellow card to Sofiane Boufal."