Muthanna Al-Ahmad / Anatolia
The Moroccan national team aspires to take third place at the World Cup in Qatar when they meet the Croatian national team on the ground of the “Khalifa International” stadium today, Saturday.
Walid Al-Rakraki’s battalion is trying to write a happy ending with a celebration that will culminate in the wonderful march presented by the “Atlas Lions” in the current World Cup Finals.
Morocco was able to lead its sixth group with 7 points in the first round, then defeated Spain on penalties in the round of 16, before achieving the most important Arab-African result and reaching the golden square with a deserved victory over Portugal with an unanswered goal.
The Moroccans’ adventure at the World Cup in Qatar ended with an honorable defeat against France, reigning champions in the previous edition, and the most probable candidate to win it again this year, with two free goals, in a match in which Ashraf Hakimi and his companions were a strong match for the “blue roosters”.
The Moroccan dream of winning the bronze medal at the World Cup collides with the great ambition of the Croatian team to overcome the defeat against Argentina and achieve another important result after taking second place in the 2018 Russia edition.
Several local and international reports state that Morocco’s squad against Croatia will see the absence of 4 prominent players from the starting lineup, which presents Regragui with new options to fill the influential void.
Topping the list of absentees are the ‘black’ team’s central midfielder Ezzedine Onahi, and Nayef Akrad, whose injury was a major blow against France, as well as captain Roman Sayess and illustrious full-back Naseer Mazraoui .
“We would have liked things to have gone differently and the final had been played, but there is another game to play and we want to be on the podium,” Rekragui said at a press conference.
He added: “We know Croatia also want to finish third. We played them in our opening match so that would be great.”
The Croatian national team, on the other hand, suffers from some absences, but their coach, Zlatko Dalic, minimized the importance of the matter and confirmed that he will include the best players ready to face Morocco with a “100 per cent balanced squad”.
Before the match against Morocco, Dalic said: “We’ll talk about it again between today and tomorrow to make a decisive decision. This match is a different challenge than in 1998, because we achieved more success by taking second place in 2018. Bronze could be was more important at the time, but getting third place again makes a big difference.”
Interestingly, Morocco and Croatia met in the opening match of the group stage and a goalless draw was the master of the situation.
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