Croatia are preparing for a “big” World Cup third-place match against Morocco on Saturday, with the African team’s surprising run to the semi-finals reminiscent of Croatia’s success at the 2018 tournament, the coach said. , this Friday.
World Cup underdogs Morocco defeated Belgium and Canada in the group stage before eliminating 2010 world champions Spain and 2016 European champions Portugal on penalties in the quarter-finals.
Morocco’s dream campaign ended in the semi-final against France, who beat surprise finalists Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Final.
African football had suffered a crisis of confidence after the last World Cup in Russia, when none of the five teams made it out of the group stage, but that has now all changed with the performance of Walid Regragui’s side in Qatar.
“Morocco looks like us four years ago. Nobody expected them to get to this stage,” Dalic said. “They deserve to be here. They will be a tougher opponent than in the first game.”
“They’ve grown in self-confidence and they’re motivated. It’s a huge and important match for both of them,” he said.
Croatia and Morocco drew 0-0 in their group stage openers before progressing to the knockout stages.
“It’s a great game for us. We have a lot of respect for the Moroccan team. I think they have the same mentality as us. It’s a great game for them too. They will come with a great formation,” said Dalic.
Croatia have a series of injury concerns with Josko Gvardiol, Marcelo Brozovic and Josip Juranovic as uncertainties for the game, and Dalic said he would make a last-minute decision.
“This is the seventh game in a month and we are a bit tired and exhausted. We have some problems with (Josko) Gvardiol, (Josip) Juranovic and (Marcelo) Brozovic. We will see what happens. We have to be careful.” he said.
“We have to be honest and if someone isn’t 100% fit then we have to talk about it,” he added.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
