Croatia beats Morocco, gets on the podium and Luka Modric is bronze

The game that nobody wants to play. The meeting of disappointment. The end of pain. There are several ways football slang has come up to refer to the duel for third place in a World Cup. Handing over the last thing his men had after their defeat to Argentina in one of their semi-finals four days earlier, Croatia beat courageous Morocco 2-1 to stand on the podium for the third time in their six appearances since independence from extinct Yugoslavia (she had been third in France 1998 and second in Russia 2018) in what may have been her last performance Luca Modric with the plaid jacket.

These two teams knew each other well, having already met on 23 November at Al Bait Stadium for the first round of group F (they drew 0-0). At the time, no one imagined that 24 days later they would meet to install the occupant of the last step of the podium in a clash that both technicians, on the eve, saw with very different eyes. “It’s a very important match for us, it’s a battle for a medal”, Zlatko Dalic assured. “We wanted to play in the final. It is difficult to handle a disappointment, to embellish this match and fill it with meaning,” acknowledged Walid Regragui.

That encounter for the first round had been very close, in which they had respected each other, they had concentrated almost exclusively on defending their own goal and had paid little attention to that of the opponent. This time, after going through a roller coaster of emotions, with worn-out machinery and even casualties from injuries, the two played with no strings attached and put on an entertaining show. Everyone did it with their own script: the Europeans, with their meticulous and patient handling of the ball, waiting to find holes in the opposing defence; the Africans, more dizzying, with the tandem Hakimi-Ziyech on the right and, to a lesser extent, with the lap of Attiat-Allah and El Khannouss on the left.

Croatia struck first, with a nice Gvardiol popcorn (one of the best defenders of the tournament) from the penalty spot, but Morocco equalized immediately, even with a header from Dari, after the brand managers slept through and goalkeeper Livakovic was screwed in the small area. In this open duel, without many precautions and with sufficient insecurities in the rear, the Balkans have shown themselves to be increasingly dangerous. Before the break, the lead was regained: Orsic, who hadn’t contributed much in the first half, adjusted a right-footed shot that hit Bounou’s left post with the precision of a heart surgeon.

Cheered by cheering crowds at Khalifa International Stadium, the lions of the atlasthan with fourth place they completed their own and also best performance of an African team and an Arab team in a World CupThey never gave up on the search for an equaliser, but their players, who had left shreds of physique in the previous six games, didn’t have the clarity to turn their constant wandering into the opposing area into goals.

The anger of the Moroccans with the Qatari referee Al-Jassim after the final whistle and the hugs of the Croatians showed that there was much more at stake than almost nothing. Many of those hugs from the Balkans were for Luka Modric, who at 37 closed a brilliant tournament and proved its worth. In any case, and despite having avoided giving certainties in the previous days, there remained the possibility of saying goodbye to the midfielder who had made his debut in a friendly match against Argentina in March 2006 and has since played 162 games for his team.