The Croatian national team does not bother – Sport – Kommersant
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The bronze medal of the World Cup was won by the Croatian team. In the match for third place, she defeated the Moroccans with a score of 2:1. The winning goal was scored by Mislav Orsic. Thus, the Croats finished in the top three at the second world championship in a row. In 2018 they became silver medalists.
The matches for the third place, of course, have a special specificity, because the disappointment of their participants after the defeat in the semi-finals is so great that not everyone manages to maintain a positive attitude. This depressive psychological state, as a rule, is superimposed by physical fatigue that has accumulated during a long tournament, so the so-called consolation finals are by no means always distinguished by principles. One of the rivals often turns out to be demotivated and squeezed like a lemon, does not make any extra efforts and admits to being defeated.
In the consolation final of the current World Cup, the team that suffered the most disappointment from the failure in the semi-finals, perhaps, was the national team of Morocco. Still, for the first time in its history, it made such a fantastic take-off and even had a chance to reach the main final, having capitulated in front of the current world champions, the French, only in the 79th minute, when they scored the second goal. Croatia national team lost semi-finals to the Argentines in a much more peremptory form, although she complained about the allegedly unfairly appointed penalty kick against her. In addition, she already had her golden match four years ago at the World Championships in Russia, which in fact became silver.
In addition, the Moroccans suffered heavier personnel losses. Team captain Romain Saiss broke himself in the semi-finals, which he entered with an injury. Nussair Mazrawi then only lasted for one half. Nayef Agerd never managed to recover from the injury received in the 1/8 finals. Yes, and some other leading players like Sofyan Amrabat, who played almost the entire championship from bell to bell, were barely able to drag their feet by the end of the match with the French. True, the iron Amrabat again got into the starting line-up, but the young midfielder Azzedine Unai, who, experts call the opening of the tournament in Qatar, sat down on the bench. However, the head coach of the Croats Zlatko Dalic also decided to bring in fresh reserves and left several key players, including the defender of the St. Petersburg “Zenith” Dejan Lovren, in reserve.
As you know, the national teams of Morocco and Croatia have already met at the start of the championship, but then they did not reveal the winner and showed rather boring football without goals.
Now, in the very first minutes, the game was revived by the goalkeeper of the Atlas Lions, Yassin Bunu, who, out of the blue, almost cut the ball into his own goal, trying to pass a partner parallel to the front line. And it soon became even more fun.
Croats have earned a standard and opened the scoring. Ivan Perisic made a discount with his head on Joshko Guardiola, and the “man in the mask” also, with his head, struck irresistibly. It looked very nice, like in training. But then the Moroccans also used the standard position. A cross into the penalty area followed, the checkers midfielder Lovro Mayer turned his head and involuntarily assisted Ashraf Dari, who sent the ball into the net.
This embarrassment did not embarrass the Croatian team, which immediately indicated their intention to act from a position of strength. She played with an advantage, and Luka Modric could use it when he hit the bottom insidiously, and Bunu took the threat away with some difficulty. Moroccans periodically moved to someone else’s half of the field, and Ashraf Hakimi’s breakthrough on the right flank was so very dangerous. If the cross of the defender of the French PSG had been more precise, Youssef En-Nesiri probably would not have missed the empty target.
And yet, with all the efforts of the same Croats, there were clearly not enough truly scoring chances. But in the 42nd minute, Mislav Orsic showed that it is possible to score in situations that can hardly be considered favorable for scoring. The attacking midfielder of Dinamo Zagreb decided on a technically difficult kick with a twist from somewhere on the side of the penalty area and hit the jackpot – the ball from the far post flew into the net. This time, the Moroccans failed to win back quickly, and the Croatian team took the first half – 2: 1.
After the break, the representatives of the African continent, of course, changed to a more attacking way. But the former courage, which distinguished the wards of Walid Regraga in previous matches of the championship, was no longer felt in their game.
It was evident how the coach was trying to cheer up the team, to raise it to another feat. Already by the 66th minute, he made all five substitutions, although some of them were forced due to regular injuries of his players. And the “Atlas lions”, gritting their teeth, continued to fight. En-Nesiri even seemed to be lucky when the guardians forgot him under the gate alone with Dominik Livakovich. However, the Croatian goalkeeper himself, like a lion, rushed at the striker and reduced the angle of fire to a minimum.
The Croats, despite the fact that they were already more concerned about keeping the account, could kill the intrigue ahead of schedule. They insistently demanded a penalty after the fall of Guardiol in a duel with Amrabat, which indeed seemed very convincing. But Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim and VAR were of a different opinion, according to which Guardiol could well have stood on his feet and collapsed on the lawn on his own initiative. Mateo Kovacic also missed a great moment. On the other hand, Dalic’s team still dried the game perfectly, which, of course, was much more important for them than the third goal. Nevertheless, in the end, another Moroccan miracle almost happened at this championship. At the end of the last, sixth added minute, En-Nesiri hit his head unhindered, but the ball whistled just above the crossbar. And there the final whistle was already blown, after which the Croatian team was awarded consolatory bronze medals.
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