Croatia and Morocco will play their last World Cup match in
a bid to become the third place winners in Qatar on Saturday.
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The two teams hailing
from the same group (F) had earlier signed peace with a 0-0 draw in the group
stages. They have been defensively the most compact sides that hadn’t lost a
single game till the semi-finals. The
Croats will battle it out with the Atlas Lions to determine who takes the third place in the tournament.
Here we take a look at the five things to watch out for in
the match:
1.
Swansong of a legend
2018 Ballon d’Or winner
and Croatia’s greatest midfielder of all time, Luka Modric, at 37, is at the
fag end of his career. With him very unlikely to make it to another World Cup at 41,
the match is widely believed to be his last at a World Cup for the side and the
Croats would be keen to bid adieu on a winning note.
2.
Nerves of steel
The lion’s share of Croatia and Morocco’s
successes at the World Cup may be attributed to their fantastic goalies,
Livakovic and Bounou respectively. The two have held on tight in the face of
some of the deadliest attacks in the tournament. Their clash promises entertainment.
3.
Hakimi versus
Modric
The two most famous footballers from
opposing teams have everything left to play for. Since more money, third place
and a lot of bragging rights are on the line, the two stars will require to
bring in their best and the battle in the midfield, especially at the Moroccan
end of the field will be riveting.
4.
What’s up with these two and penalties?
Livakovic and Bounou have thrived under the
immense pressure of penalties and the two teams have featured in three of the
four penalty shoot-outs in the tournament.
They also had a fascinating penalty shootout in their first encounter in 1996 that eventually went to sudden death after 2-2
in the first round of penalties, and was finally won 5-4 by Croatia (sudden death score).
5.
The underrated attack
Both sides have
produced some brilliant attacks but have been primarily known throughout the
event for their defense and solidity. However, Croatia has in Ivan Perišić a deadly attacker while En-Nesyri and Hakim
Ziyech have been trustworthy forwards for the Africans in the cup.
