Proud Morocco are about to make one last step to glory
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Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 16.12.22. | 22:23
The Atlas Lions coach Walid Regragui insists they're eager to be on the podium at the end
We can be proud we're playing a seventh game at the World Cup, even though it is not Sunday's final, says head coach Walid Regragui ahead of their Saturday game against Croatia to decide the third-placed team.
France put a stop to their historic run, which saw Morocco become the first African country to reach the WC semifinal.
"We would like things to have gone differently and played in the final," said Regragui in a press conference on Friday.
"There is another game to play, we would like to be on the podium.
"I understand it's important to finish third rather than fourth, but my takeaway is we didn't reach the final. We wanted to play the final on Sunday, not play tomorrow.
"But I told my players this is our seventh World Cup game. If you told any Morocco fan we would be playing our seventh game on 17 December, they would be proud.
"Morocco played six World Cup games in 20-odd years and now we've played six games in a month - this is priceless. It's as if we played two World Cups or even more, that's beautiful from an experience point of view."
Morocco and 2018 finalists Croatia will both end the tournament as they began it - by facing each other.
The two nations played out a goalless draw in Group F on 23 November at the Al Bayt Stadium, but Regragui is predicting a better encounter on Saturday.
"We knew Croatia were going to be one of the best teams in the competition," he added. "After the first game, we knew the performance was very good."
Regragui confirmed skipper Romain Saiss wouldn't be fit for the match, having risked his captain at just "60-70%" in the semifinal, a decision which backfired when he limped off after just 20 minutes.
"We took a risk, but it was a risk worth taking," added Regragui.
Croatia could be without midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, who was taken off in the semifinal defeat by Argentina.
Centre-back Josko Gvardiol, who has impressed throughout the tournament, is nursing a foot injury but may still play.
QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP
THIRD-PLACE MATCH
Saturday
18.00: (2.50) Croatia (3.35) Morocco (3.05)
WORLD CUP FINAL
Sunday
18.00: (2.90) Argentina (3.05) France (2.85)
***odd are subject to change
