Beaten semi-finalists Morocco, Croatia eye podium finish in 3rd place

DOHA: To some, it’s little more than a meaningless exhibition match. To others, it’s a chance to become “immortal.”

The third-place playoff at the World Cup can be a confusing concept.

“You are so disappointed, you’ve just lost a semifinal and then two days later you have to go back out there,” Morocco coach Walid Regragui said Friday. Regragui’s history-making team — the first African nation to reach the World Cup semifinals — will play Croatia on Saturday at Khalifa International Stadium.

“It’s like the booby prize,” Regragui said. “I am sorry for speaking like this. I understand that it should be important, I understand that it is better to finish third than fourth, but for me my takeaway is that we just didn’t get to the final.”

Morocco’s run to the semifinals in Qatar provided the most improbable story of the tournament. The team was also the first Arab nation to go so far in soccer’s biggest event, generating an outpouring of pride among Arab countries. After such a wild and dizzying ride, it’s understandable that Regragui sounded so flat when looking ahead to the match against Croatia. It’s also a measure of his own ambition that he ends an unforgettable tournament for African soccer with a sense of disappointment after being beaten by defending champion France 2-0. “. We would be on the podium,” the coach said. “But you know what, even if we win the game tomorrow (on Saturday) we won’t go to the final.”

The atmosphere from the Croatian side has been more upbeat.

The runner up from the last World Cup in Russia lost to Argentina 3-0 in the other semifinal match, but its players have spoken of the importance of winning another medal.

Forward Andrej Kramaric described it as the chance to “become an immortal hero in your country.”

“Eight of us from (the tournament in) Russia understand that feeling of winning a medal at the World Cup and we have a lot of players who haven’t experienced that and would love to do that because it’s something that will stay with you for the rest of their life,” Kramaric said.

Luka Modric, who is likely playing in his last World Cup, had similar thoughts.

“We need to leave everything to win the bronze medal and let our fans celebrate one more time,” he said.

To finish second and third in back-to-back World Cups would further secure the legacy of a golden generation for Croatia.