Croatia triumph as Morocco turn ugly
A FEW minutes from the end, Morocco centre-forward Youssef En-Nesyri jumped higher than his marker in the Croatia box and nodded a header towards goal. It went inches too high. Morocco still trailed.
A couple of Moroccan players fell to their knees in despair before they resumed the desperate search for an equaliser.
When the final whistle went to confirm Croatia’s victory and a third place in this World Cup to go with their runners-up finish in Russia four years ago, a cohort of the Moroccan players rushed over to the Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim and surrounded him.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi seemed to be particularly enraged. He had to be dragged away by team-mates as the referee sought protection.
It was an ugly, disturbing end to a match that is seen by many as a meaningless fixture but the passion that both teams brought to it and the joy Croatia showed in their triumph, a match that was probably the great
Luka Modric’s final appearance at a World Cup, gave the lie to the assertion it means nothing.
Morocco have defied expectations throughout this tournament and with their determination to shine one last time, they did it again here.
In many ways, they have been the team of this tournament, the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals, beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their way to last week’s last-four defeat to France. Their feats united the Arab world around them on the occasion of the first Arab World Cup.
They could not quite muster one last triumph and, despite Moroccan complaints about the referee, Croatia deserved their win in a stadium that was 90 per cent full of fans supporting their opponents.
Modric, 37, one of the great players of his generation, the only man to interrupt the hegemony of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d’Or awards between 2008 and 2022, was majestic again on the occasion of his 162nd cap, and even though these two teams played out a goalless draw in the group stage, it soon became apparent this encounter would be very different.
Croatia nearly took the lead, in bizarre circumstances, inside three minutes when Morocco goalkeeper Bono sliced his attempted pass and was relieved to see the ball trickle just wide.
Minutes later, a Croatia free-kick was nodded across goal and met by Josko Gvardiol. Last seen being torn to pieces by Lionel Messi’s brilliant run in Tuesday’s semi-final with Argentina, Gvardiol’s firm header kissed the right hand post as it arrowed into the net.
Two minutes later, Morocco were level. The goal came from another free-kick. It looped up into the air off a defender and, as the Croatia defence stood and watched and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic stayed on his line, Achraf Dari headed it home.
Three minutes before half-time, Croatia went ahead with a contender for goal of the tournament. Morocco lost possession on the edge of their own area and when the ball was worked out to Mislav Orsic on the edge of the box, he curled his shot over Bono and towards the far corner of the net. Bono got a despairing right hand on it, which was enough to deflect it on to the post, but when it landed, it was over the line.
The game exploded into action and recrimination in the second half as both sides were denied penalty claims. Things turned even uglier six minutes from the end when Selim Amallah was penalised for a foul and a group of Morocco players surrounded the referee, jostling him and gesticulating at him. Amallah was booked and the tension was defused but it was not a good look.
En-Nesyri put his late header over the bar and Moroccan disappointment boiled over into rage at the end. It was a cruel end to a tournament where they achieved so much.
CROATIA (4-5-1): Livakovic; Stanisic, Gvardiol, Sutalo, Perisic; Majer (Pasalic 66), Modric, Kovacic, Kramaric (Vlasic 61), Orsic (Jakic 90); Livaja (Petkovic 66). Booked:
None. MOROCCO (4-1-2-3): Bounou; Hakimi, El Yamiq (Amallah 67), Dari 7 (Benoun 64), Attiat-Allah; Amrabat; El Khannouss (Ounahi 56), Sabiri (Chair 46); Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal (Zaroury 64). Booked: Ounahi, Amallah.
Referee: Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar). Attendance: 44,137.