They call it a consolation final, although there is no consolation to stay at the gates of a World Cup final. Despite this, Croatia and Morocco are fighting this Saturday (4:00 p.m.) to win the bronze medal that seals a great tournament. And it is that Africans and Europeans have been the great revelations in Qatar and they do not want to leave without a new notch in their record.
Luka Modric's Croatia, who prays that this is not the last World Cup for the madridista, slips into the top four teams for the second consecutive tournament. They have left behind rivals such as Japan (eighth) or the powerful Brazil (fourth) and had not lost a single game until they met an Argentina that tomorrow will go down in history in the final against France.
On the other side we have Morocco, the first African team to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. Those known as 'lions of the Atlas' arrive willing to do anything to show that their revelation role is well worth a medal, even a bronze one. "I'm not going to fool anyone, this is not the game we would have liked to play," Walid Regragui, the Moroccan coach, acknowledged in the preview.
Morocco will not be an easy opponent, they have knocked out of the tournament nothing more and nothing less than Spain and Portugal, completing a brilliant tournament only truncated by a great France. Croatia and Morocco will close the circle as they started it. And it is that both teams coincided in the group stage, in which they opened with a goalless draw. A marker that will not be worth either of them today. Only one will be able to leave Qatar with a medal around his neck.
The match between Croatia and Morocco, which will decide who wins the bronze medal, will be played this Saturday, December 17, at the Khalifa International Stadium (Al Rayyan). The confrontation will start at 4:00 p.m. and can be seen openly through La1 de Televisión Española. In addition, the game can also be followed on Gol Mundial and La Vanguardia will offer live minute by minute everything that happens on the pitch.
