Croatia second and another match “breaks brave” at the World Cup: goalless draw against Morocco

The Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini had a good debut in the World Cup and smoothly steered the goalless draw between Croatia, the current world runners-up, and Morocco, who met at the Al Bayt Stadium. Accompanied by assistants Juan Pablo Belatti and Diego Bonfá, the judge from La Plata managed to go almost unnoticed in the first of the matches in Group F which also includes Belgium and Canada.

It was not an easy debut for Rapallini. On the one hand Croatia, with expert players and a star of the caliber Luca Modric try to give another big surprise like in Russia, where they beat Argentina in the group stage, qualified first in the group and reached the final. On the other Morocco, an African team that defends with physical rigor and can be a headache for many.

The match and, above all, the context, however, did not weigh on the shortlist of Argentine candidates. The match, balanced and fought, ended with only one yellow card, the Moroccan defender Sofyan Amrabat, for a heavy foul on Modric. Perhaps Rapallini’s only mistake was not having booked Modric after two consecutive offenses which interrupted Morocco’s attacks at the end of the first half or for another foul at the start of the second.

In that case, he preferred to book the Croatian captain instead of showing him the yellow card. Modric, who knows perfectly well the tensions that everyone, including the referees, experiences in a World Cup match, was the player who spoke the most with the Argentine referee.

The goalless draw certainly satisfied Rapallini and his squad -not because of the result but because it ended without controversy or conflicting plays-, but it frustrated Croatia and, obviously, was celebrated by a Morocco enthusiastic about fighting in a group in which, a priori, candidates to qualify are his rival this Wednesday and Belgium.

Croatia tried from the start, tried to impose conditions from possession, but Modric’s always clean start from the feet was not found in the last meters neither the speed nor the clarity needed to carry danger Yasine Bounou, the Sevilla goalkeeper who, with just a few interventions, ended up being decisive in giving Morocco a draw.

Bounou was fundamental because he responded in the most dangerous play of the match, when the first half was dying. 45 minutes were played when almost for the only time Croatia managed to connect more than three passes in a row to finish with a low cross from the left that found Nikola Vlasic in the box and in front of goal.

It is a sequence of passes in which Perisic deploys Borna Sosa on the left and the defender finds Vlasic in the centre, who gains position with respect to the defender and defines a few meters from goal. But Bounou stretched out, spread his arms and legs and avoided what at that moment seemed inevitable. That possibility emboldened Croatia, but they had very little time left. Only a shot by Modric from outside the box bothered the Moroccan goalkeeper again.

The African set, disciplined to defend and willing to come out quickly againsthe had one of his main weapons in the takeover of PSG defender Achraf Hakimi.

In the second half Morocco tries to press a few meters higher up but the game doesn’t change. Croatia had more of the ball but lacked lucidity in the closing meters and only cornered Morocco with a series of corner kicks which again found Bounou in good position.

The goalless draw left little taste for Croatia, who were looking to start winning to establish themselves in Group F in which the great candidate for the weight of their individuality is Belgium.

Croatia will be looking to score three against Canada on Sunday at the Khalifa Stadium, while Morocco meet Belgium. The duel between the candidates in the group, Croatia and Belgium, will be on the last date, Thursday 1 December, at the Ahmed Bin Ali stadium.