Croatia triumph over Moroccan pride before tomorrow’s main event
World Cup Diaries: Day 26.
World Cup Diaries: Day 26.
17th December 2022
CROATIA 2 (Gvardiol 7, Orsic 42)
MOROCCO 1 (Dari 9)
I posited in yesterday’s diary entry, a link of which can be found at the denouement to this particular article, that 3rd Place Play-Offs such as this afternoon’s game are utterly pointless and should be scrapped forthwith and despite today’s fantastic game I won’t be budged from this position. This afternoon’s affair was more competitive than I imagined it would be and with two teams, for their own respective reasons, determined to win and finish a place higher than the other. But 3rd or 4th place when there can be only one winner, one World Cup champion? Utterly pointless.
I wasn’t going to watch this afternoon’s game but like Al Pacino in the Godfather Part III, just when I delude myself to thinking that I’m out, the allure of football pulls me back in, and I’m pleased it did today. The 2nd half was, in truth, an enormous let down compared to the very good 1st half that obviously came before it. Morocco in particular became very leggy and tired and, whisper it, blotted their immaculate copybook towards the end of the game by harrassing, harranging and crowding around a referee who was admittedly abject all game long. The Qatari referee made a rod for his own back by not taking three, possibly four opportunities to book and yellow card a player and hence stamping his authority on the game and setting a benchmark. OK it’s a “glorified friendly” (I’ve warned you. Behave yourself! Sports Editor) and a 3rd Place Play-Off, but Abdulrahman al-Jassim let a lot of bookable challenges go and by the time he did brandish a yellow card (2, both to Morocco), he’d lost a great deal of control of the game.
That said, there’s zero excuse for the Morocco players hounding him relentlessly and often, especially during the last twenty minutes, and then even after the final whistle. They collectively lost their cool at a number of 50/50 decisions that went against them and I hope there aren’t any lingering issues following this to cloud the majesty of performances from Sofyan Amrabat, Sofiane Boufal, Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech that have truly lit up and enlivened this 2022 World Cup as much as their raucous, lively and passionate fans that have followed them in vast numbers at every stadium in Qatar.
As I noted in the diary entry following their somewhat unlucky defeat to France in the semi-final, thanks for the memories Morocco.
So Croatia take 3rd place once more, for the second time too, and in addition to being runners up in Russia four years ago. An incredible achievement I believed to be way beyond the scope of this impressive, physical and organised unit of a football team and a larger squad that I felt were held together for that cliched “one tournament too long” ala Belgium.
I’m pleased they proved me wrong and I’m equally pleased that Argentina eased past them in the semi-final!
Their victory this evening summed up this team and squad of players who have over achieved to the moon and back in the last four years. They simply managed the game and their 2–1 lead in the second half methodically, professionally and with very little worry whilst also threatening to exploit the gaps left by a Morocco team chasing an equaliser. Their first half goals were a delight and had they been scored earlier in the tournament, both would have been worthy contenders for “Goal of the Tournament”. The first was a brilliant training ground routine from first Lovro Majer and a cute free-kick into the penalty area brilliantly back-headed and redirected by the ever impressive Ivan Perisic for their man of the tournament Josko Gvardiol, and a diving header that curled gently from outside of the post until perfectly inside it, and into the corner of the Morocco net, and second, a gem of a first time curling shot from Mislav Orsic that the Moroccan goalkeeper Bono could get the merest of fingertips to it, but yet the ball still crashed into the inside of his post before nestling into the corner of his net once more. Two real goals of genuine footballing beauty.
Hvala ti Hrvatska
(Thank you Croatia)
Hvala na uspomenama Luka Modric
(Thank you for the memories Luka Modric)
So to tomorrow’s final and as I’m world renowned now for making horrendous predictions that never come true (hence I’m no betting man), I predict a 2–0 France win and a rather tempesterous last 10 minutes or so when Argentina truly show Morocco how the dark arts are really performed in anger! But my footballing romantic heart beats for Messi and those evocative white and light blue stripes.
I foresee it being messy tomorrow, and I hope this is a brilliant spelling mistake come Sunday evening.
Time will tell.
It always does.
Thanks for reading. In addition to the delights that can be found within the cave of wonders that is my archives, I’m penning a day to day diary of the World Cup, and here are days 23 through 25:
3rd Place Play-Offs and other pointless ramblings from the World Cup
World Cup Diaries: Day 25medium.com
Heartbreak for the Atlas Lions as Les Bleus find a way to win. Again.
World Cup Diaries: Day 24.medium.com
Messi leads Albicelestes into another World Cup Final
World Cup Diaries: Day 23.medium.com